A poster on the rail yatra, being organised by Visakha Railway Zone Sadhana Samithi, from Ichchapuram to Visakhapatnam on May 21, was released here on Friday.
Addressing a media conference on the occasion, Samithi leader and CPI assistant secretary J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy said the Centre had failed to concede the demand of the people north Andhra, who have been organising struggles for nearly two decades seeking a new railway zone with headquarters in Visakhapatnam and urged people to make the yatra a success.
He said Visakhapatnam was not only the biggest city in AP, post-bifurcation, but was also contributing the highest revenue to the railways. It also has the necessary infrastructure for establishment of the zonal headquarters, but it was unfortunate that the Centre was ignoring the long-pending demand after promising it in the election manifesto.
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YSR Congress leader and former MLA Tynala Vijay Kumar, said Waltair Division had a glorious history of 100 years. The AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 has provided for establishment of a new zone in the State within six months. CPI(M) city secretary B. Ganga Rao said Waltair Division was the biggest among all divisions and the highest revenue earner in the country.
Congress leader MSN Raju, Lok Satta leader MSN Murthy, Uttarandhra Transport JAC leaders Janakiram Reddy, Uttarandhra Rakshana Vedika (URV) president S.S. Siva Shankar, Uttarandhra Jouranlistla Forum (UJF) leaders MRN Varma, N. Nageswara Rao and Ramu Satyanarayana, CPI district and city leaders M. Pydi Raju and A. Vimala were present.