Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha nominees cutting across party lines came together on one platform to speak about their vision for the city at a ‘Meet the Press’ event organised by the Vizag Journalists’ Forum in the city on Wednesday.
The nominees spoke on contentious issues like Special Category Status (SCS) and the separate railway zone, besides other issues such as water supply, agriculture, and a mass migration of workers from North Andhra districts to Visakhapatnam in search of work.
Questions, however, were taken only by Jana Sena Party nominee V.V. Lakshminarayana and BJP nominee D. Purandeswari, as both the TDP nominee M. Sri Bharat and YSRCP nominee M.V.V. Satyanarayana left soon after delivering their speech.
“My party wants the smart city of Vizag to be a safe city as well. Severe drinking water problems have been brought to my notice. Youths are not getting jobs due to delay in obtaining verification certificates from the police,” Mr. Lakshminarayana said.
“I resigned from the Congress when Special Category Status was not included in the bifurcation bill. I personally saw to it that changes were made to the draft bill that was introduced in the Assembly, leading to the materialisation of Central institutions now,” Ms. Purandeswari said, adding that proposals for the operation of Sri Lanka and Silk Airways and Vistadome coaches to Araku were moved during her tenure. She promised to combat pollution in the city and sought support for welfare schemes implemented by the Modi government with thrust on ‘antyodaya’ and farmers, and its fight against terrorism.
Dwelling on how he grew up in a political family and his electoral debut following the death of his grandfather M.V.V.S. Murthi, TDP nominee M. Sri Bharat said issues like Centre-State relations in the light of the Central Government discriminating against the Southern States should be considered.
YSRCP’s M.V.V. Satyanarayana said he was well-known to the people with his work in the real estate sector for nearly 25 years and spoke of his rise from humble origins. “Unlike other leaders who would have to be contacted through their personal assistants or who have arrived just in time for the elections, I will always be accessible,” Mr. Satyanarayana said. He described the announcement of the South Coast Railway Zone as a major disappointment for the people of Visakhapatnam.
Congress nominee Pedada Ramani Kumari asserted that hers was the only party committed to achieving SCS. She said she would fight the election on the back of Rahul Gandhi’s promise that his signature would be on the SCS file. The meet was chaired by VJF president G. Srinubabu.
