VISAKHAPATNAM: To press for the demand of the people of the region for a railway zone with Visakhapatnam as headquarters, YSRC district president Gudivada Amarnath will lead a padayatra next month.
Setting March 9, on which the second phase of the budget session of Parliament begins, as deadline, party senior leader B. Satyanarayana said that the padayatra would begin on the day if no announcement was made on the zone by then.
Even when the Union Budget made no mention on the Special Category Status (SCS) or the railway zone, the TDP leaders in Parliament not only kept quiet but lauded the budget, Mr. Satyanarayana told reporters here on Saturday. The support of other parties would be sought.
The padayatra from Anakapalle to Bheemunipatnam will cover a distance of about 250 km. The route map and schedule will be finalised in a week.
Mr. Amarnath, who had contested from Anakapalle Lok Sabha constituency in the 2014 election unsuccessfully, went on an indefinite fast on the demand for the railway zone in April last.
Mr. Satyanarayana said the prestige of Visakhapatnam, about which the TDP Government was talking so much, was taking a beating with land pooling in the name of which farmers were being allegedly duped.
Visakha Utsav
Though it was described as a prestigious event, Visakha Utsav was reduced to a local fair, and even Cabinet Ministers were not attending it, he said.
Party leaders Kola Guruvulu, Tyanala Vijay Kumar, Malla Vijay Prasad, Karri Sitaram, Tippala Nagi Reddy, Adeep Raj, and Koyya Prasad Reddy participated.
