Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has not made any commitment on establishment of the new railway zone with headquarters in Visakhapatnam, except for saying that the proposal was under active consideration.
The visit of the Railway Minister to participate in BJP’s Jan Kalyan Parv here on Wednesday was eagerly awaited by the people of the city as they were expecting a categorical statement.
Ministers Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu and Ganta Srinivasa Rao, MPs K. Haribabu, M. Srinivasa Rao and Kothapalli Geetha made a strong case for the railway zone to be created here. Earlier, Mr. Ganta Srinivasa Rao said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had already announced that the TDP was in favour of location of the headquarters in Visakhapatnam.
Mr. Ayyanna Patrudu said Congress had cheated the people on the issue after long struggles by representatives of all political parties under the banner of ‘Visakha Railway Zone Sadhana Samithi’.
The Railway Minister could sense the mood of the public as they went into raptures when ever a mention was made of the need for creation of the new zone in Visakhapatnam. He, however, did not go beyond saying:
“Your sentiments will be taken into account. We are working on it. Creation of zone is already under consideration of the government. In the near future, AP will get all that it is aspiring about”. Refusing to talk to the media, Mr. Suresh Prabhu alighted the stage after the meeting. Soon he boarded his car and left the venue.
