Did YSR Congress party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy planned to build a full-fledged administrative capital city in the lands belonging to Visakhapatnam Steel Plant?
Well, that is what former chief secretary L V Subrahmanyam has disclosed now.
He told a television channel in an interview that Jagan had once proposed dismantling the steel plant and constructing a new state capital on its land.
Subrahmanyam, who was removed from the post of chief secretary within months of Jagan coming to power, claimed that he often spoke “frankly and fearlessly” to Jagan, unlike several senior officials who allegedly hesitated to convey uncomfortable truths to the former chief minister.
He said Jagan preferred officers who merely nodded along with his views rather than those who offered informed or dissenting opinions.
According to the retired bureaucrat, Jagan once floated a “shocking” idea: to pull down the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and build the state capital in the land.
“I was stunned. None of us could ever imagine such a proposal,” Subrahmanyam said.
He asserted that he argued strongly against the plan, prompting Jagan to tell him, “This is the problem with you.”
Calling Jagan “unfit for the chief minister’s post,” Subrahmanyam said such ideas reflected a potential danger to society.
He emphasised that governance must be guided by individuals with sincerity, public welfare in mind, and the spirit of sacrifice.
The former CS added that he had seen many political leaders in his long career—beginning with the 1983 IAS batch—who operated with commitment and moral responsibility.
Subrahmanyam, who grew up in Visakhapatnam, said he was deeply disturbed when Jagan described the steel plant as a source of pollution.
“When I disagreed, he accused me of always opposing him,” he recalled.
Subrahmanyam questioned how such “dangerous visions” originated in Jagan’s mind and why none of the hundreds of advisors around him could restrain him.
“If a chief minister conceives an idea, people from every level of society may come forward to help if it’s for public good. But Jagan never listened to expert advice,” he remarked.
