BSNL Employees are Traitors: BJP MP Anant Hegde Stokes Controversy

Anant Hegde also alleged that PM Modi will privatise the company.

File photo of Anant Kumar Hegde. 

(Photo: IANS)

Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) MP Anant Kumar Hegde has been spotted in a video, addressing a public event and stoking controversy by alleging that BSNL employees are “traitors”, say media reports.

The event took place on 10 August in Kumta, Karnataka, reported ANI.

WHAT DID HEGDE SAY?

According to ANI, Hegde had said:

“BSNL employees are traitors who weren’t willing to work to develop a well-known firm. More than 88,000 employees will be fired as government will privatise BSNL.”   

Alleging that the PSU had become a “black spot” for the nation, he said that the Narendra Modi government is ready to bring in private players to take charge of the firm, and that over 88,000 BSNL employees will thereby lose their jobs, reported The Print.

BACKGROUND

Previously, according to TOI, Hegde had in February attacked Mahatma Gandhi, and referred to the freedom struggle led by him as “drama”.

According to The Economic Times, the government had in 2019 said BSNL and its subsidiary Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) won’t be privatised. The government had also promised a revival package for the company.

(With inputs from ANI, The Print, TOI and The Economic Times.)