Though he was a day behind, chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had won the hearts of the agitating trade unions of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, when he visited them on Wednesday.
It was only on Tuesday, Jagan’s rival and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu had visited them and threw an open challenge to the chief minister to stop disinvestment of the steel plant.
On his arrival, Jagan Mohan Reddy held a meeting with the trade union leaders and interacted with them for nearly 30 minutes.
He grabbed the opportunity to inform them that he had already written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to withdraw the disinvestment decision.
He further told him the alternative measures to revive and protect the steel plant, which stands as testimony to the pride of the people.
He said he would insist on giving captive mines for the steel plant, which would solve the major problem.
He also told them that the POSCO would not enter the steel plant premises as being speculated.
Jagan Mohan Reddy told them that he would request the POSCO to invest elsewhere in the state and not in Visakhapatnam, which had given greater assurance to the agitating trade union leaders and their representatives.
Surprisingly, the trade union leaders, later expressed confidence in the assurance given by Jagan Mohan Reddy, perhaps giving a rude shock to Chandrababu Naidu.