VIJAYAWADA: The much-hyped meeting of Parliamentarians with South Central Railway (SCR) General Manager Vinod Kumar Yadav ended abruptly on Tuesday with the MPs walking out.
Around 16 MPs, including three Rajya Sabha members of ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP), took part in the closed door meeting at the Electric Traction Training Centre (ETTC) in the city on Tuesday. However, just 30 minutes into the meeting, they walked out, holding up placards and raising slogans demanding
‘Railway Zone’ for Visakhapatnam as mentioned in the AP Reorganisation Act-2014.
The meeting was held to discuss the progress of various infrastructure projects taken up by the SCR across the State. However, none of the MPs from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or Rajya Sabha members of opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) stayed away from the meeting. The MPs also submitted a representation to Vinod Kumar Yadav, stressing the need for Railway Zone in the State, and appealed to him to convey their sentiments before Ministry of Railways and Railway Board.
Addressing the media, MPs Kesineni Srinivas, M Murali Mohan and Avanti Srinivas strongly condemned BJP government’s inaction with regard to creation of a separate Railway zone. They said the meeting was the last they were attending in this tenure of Lok Sabha. “It has become a routine affair. We attend the annual meeting but our requests are never considered,” Kesineni Srinivas said.
He also alleged the NDA government of betraying the people of Andhra Pradesh by not according a separate Railway Zone to the State.
MP Maganti Babu said the TDP MPs will raise important issues such as SCS and Railway zone during the winter session of Parliament. The MPs were not likely to attend the next budget session or the next Railway officials meeting, he said.
Responding to the charges, the SCR GM said that demands raised by MPs were forwarded to the Railway Board.
He also said that the protest staged by MPs would be brought to the notice of the board. MPs Butta Renuka, Ravindra Kumar, Malyadri Sriram, M Srinivasa Rao, Nimmala Kristappa, SPY Reddy, Rajya Sabha members Kanakamedala Ravindra, Thota Seetharama Lakshmi, Vemireddy Prabhakar attended the meeting.