Union Minister of State for Revenue JD Seelam has said the Congress rule has not been exemplary, but then all the benefits that the poor are enjoying are a result of schemes that have been formulated and implemented by different Congress regimes. Addressing a media conference here on Sunday before leaving for Paderu the Union Minister said the sporadic incidents of violence against Dalits and tribal people cannot take away the credit from the Congress as it was the only party which was committed to serving the poor.
He lashed out at non-Congress political leaders of the State for trying to push the blame of bifurcation on the Congress and said AICC president Sonia Gandhi with a painful heart took the decision to divide the State and in the same breath welcomed bifurcation terming it as beneficial to the people of AP.
He came down heavily on the political leaders who quit the Congress after the bifurcation and were now trying to paint the party with a tar brush.
ADVERTISEMENT
Referring to reports that the Railway Board had turned down the decision on formation of a new Railway Zone in AP, he said he would call for the file and study the grounds on which the officials of the Railway Board had reached a conclusion. There was no way the officials can turn down the directive of the government, he said and added that he would send a letter to the board along with the relevant provisions in the Reorganisation of AP Act 2014, which would have to be honoured.
The headquarters of the new Railway Zone could be either Vijayawada or Visakhapatnam, he said.