The people of North Andhra region will not take it lying down if the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) denied the new railway zone with headquarters at Visakhapatnam on the plea of lack of feasibility and other frivolous reasons, YSR Congress Party leader Gudiwada Amarnath has said.
Coming down heavily on the Home Secretary and other officials for trying to create an impression that the new zone would get nothing more than a GM’s post and a few jobs to AP, Mr. Amarnath reiterated that zone was a ‘political decision’.
Post-bifurcation, Visakhapatnam was best suited for the capital of the new State as it had the best connectivity by road, rail, air and sea. The people of the North Andhra thought that it would be the only choice. Though, the Telugu Desam government had preferred Amaravati, they did not protest as they thought that at least Visakhapatnam would get the railway zone headquarters, he said.
MP and BJP State president K. Haribabu and more recently BJP MLC PVN Madhav had won on the promise of getting the new zone in Visakhapatnam but seem to have forgotten their promise.
Revenue
The revenue of Waltair Division, which was around ₹7,500 crore, was more than the revenue of some railway zones in the country, it has over 700 acres of railway land and railway assets and was the best suited for the headquarters.
He found fault with the TDP MPs like Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and Galla Jayadev, who had issued statements seeking Guntur as headquarters, despite the Chief Minister making public his choice of Vizag as headquarters.
Mr. Amarnath recalled: “When I had launched a fast-unto-death for the railway zone two years ago, both the BJP and TDP MPs and leaders snubbed me saying there is no need as the new zone with headquarters in Visakhapatnam was imminent.” He wondered what happened to the commitment of the BJP and TDP leaders from the region.
He said the party MPs would move a no confidence motion against the Centre demanding Special Category Status (SCS) and railway zone. He said a united struggle with all political parties, people and intellectuals would be launched soon to achieve the zone.
