Dharna today for separate railway zone for Andhra Pradesh
Representatives of various political parties staged a protest demanding railway zone at Vizag on Wednesday morning.
Visakhapatnam: Vizag erupted in anger when reports emerged that the Centre had decided to announce separate railway zone for Andhra Pradesh with Vijayawada as the headquarters, instead of Vizag.
Separate railway zone with Vizag headquarters has been a long pending demand in the region even before the separate Telangana movement gained momentum in 2002. Representatives of various political parties staged a protest demanding railway zone at Vizag on Wednesday morning.
The leaders of YSRC, Left parties and various voluntary organisations had met in the evening and decided to stage a ‘maha dharna’ on Thursday at the divisional railway manager office at Dondaparthy. Vizag MP Haribabu and Anakapalle MP M. Srinivas Rao too had hoped that Vizag will be the headquarters of a new railway zone in AP.
CPM state secretariat member Ch. Narasinga Rao has said the BJP and TD were neglecting north Andhra and reminded that two resolutions, one in the Assembly of combined Andhra Pradesh and another after the division of the state, were passed unnamously in favour of separate railway zone with Vizag as the headquarters.
He said that an all-party forum was ready to stage rail roko and also to go for north Andhra bandh demanding special tag.