TDP silence on rail zone headquarters raise doubts

Several leaders feel the government may choose Vijayawada

The failure to make any announcement on the new railway zone and its headquarters, on the plea that the committee formed for the purpose is yet to decide on it, has aroused suspicion among the people on the intentions of Centre and the State governments.

While Visakhapatnam MP K. Haribabu and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders strongly advocate the establishment of the headquarters in Vizag, the stoic silence being adopted by the Telugu Desam leaders raise doubts over TDP chief and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s views on the subject.

Meanwhile, Mr. Naidu’s feelers that the zone headquarters should be in Vijayawada have complicated the matter. While the BJP leaders take solace from the fact that the committee set up for formation of the zone is yet to submit its report, many feel that the committee is only to mislead the public.

Clear indication?

The announcement of AP Express from Vijayawada to New Delhi in the Railway Budget is being seen as an indication of the intentions of the Chief Minister to locate the State capital there. “How can the Railway Budget announce that the AP Express would be from Vijayawada to New Delhi?” an RTI activist asked. A train from Vijayawada would hardly travel 100 km in the state before entering Telangana, he pointed out. If the train were to originate elsewhere, for example Visakhapatnam, then the people of the State would have an opportunity to utilise the available berths, he explained.

The location of headquarters of the proposed new zone in Vijayawada would be a repeat of the ‘Hyderabad mistake’, leaders of different political parties point out.