Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders and activists staged protests at various places in the city and district on Friday as part of the State-wide protests in support of the fast being observed by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu seeking implementation of Special Category Status (SCS) and other demands.
Minister for HRD Ganta Srinivasa Rao visited the venues of the protests and addressed the party cadre. A fast was undertaken by the party workers, under the aegis of Visakhapatnam South MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar, on the Main Road in Old Town area.
The Minister and MLA beat the drum for sometime to rejuvenate the party workers.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Srinivasa Rao said though the State had a deficit budget of ₹17,000 crore, the Centre had done nothing for construction of the new capital or for the State to provide it a level-playing field to compete with other States. The Prime Minister had failed to respond to the demand for SCS and other assurances given in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, though his residence was picketed in Delhi. He recalled that when the TDP moved a ‘no confidence motion’ in Parliament, many political parties had extended support to it.
Railway zone
Saying that the Chief Minister’s ‘Dharma Poratam’ was getting good response from the public, he called for greater participation to achieve the cause. The Minister said: “Visakha Railway Zone (railway zone with headquarters in Visakhapatnam) is our (people’s) aspiration and it should be realised. The Centre does not seem to be inclined to give the zone.”
Mr. Ganesh Kumar said people were agitated over the adamant attitude of the Modi Government in failing to respond to the aspirations of crores of Telugu people. He hoped that the Centre would sanction SCS and railway zone apart from other assurances at least now.
Former MLA S.A. Rahman, Nargis and B. Rama Reddy were among those who were present.
Gajuwaka MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao alleged that the Modi government was trying to stall the development of Andhra Pradesh. The HRD Minister visited the protest camp at Gajuwaka and expressed regret at the adamant attitude of the Centre in failing to grant SCS and the railway zone.
At Akkayyapalem, party leaders came down heavily on MLC PVN Madhav for criticising the Chief Minister after winning on the strength of the Telugu Desam. TDP leaders Nazeer, D. Rama Rao, Mutyala Naidu, A. Vani, Emandi Ramana, Boddeti Mohan, Ch. V. Pattabhi Ram and Dorababu were present at the camp.
