YSRCP national general secretary V. Vijaya Sai Reddy on Wednesday caused a flutter when he said he would resign as member of the Rajya Sabha if the railway zone with Visakhapatnam as headquarters was not given as promised in the A.P. Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of the 127th birth anniversary celebrations of Telugu poet Gurram Jashuva at the party central office that the party had taken up the demand for a separate railway zone with Visakhapatnam as headquarters at various levels.
In the same breadth, he slammed the TDP and its friendly media for “misleading” the people that the Centre had refused to concede the demand for a separate railway zone.
“The reports published in Eenadu and Andhra Jyothy are false and baseless. The demand for setting up a separate railway zone in Visakhapatnam has been taken up by YSRCP as the TDP failed to rake it up during its term,” he said.
It was promised that the separate railway zone would be set up wherever the State government sets up the capital, and that it would be connected to Hyderabad through Kovvur, he said.
“There is an issue over the financial aspect of the project. While the Centre wants the State to foot the entire amount of the project within the State, the State is demanding that the Centre bear the entire expenditure. We are still negotiating with the Centre and hope it will accept our demand,” said Mr. Vijaya Sai Reddy.
Stating that the new railway zone in Visakhapatnam would be a reality, Mr. Vijaya Sai Reddy said, “I am throwing a challenge to the TDP, Eenadu and Andhra Jyothy. I will resign from Rajya Sabha if we do not get the railway zone. Will Ramoji Rao and Radhakrishna handover their media organisations to us if we get the railway zone?” he questioned.
