VISAKHAPATNAM: Deputy Chief Minister N Chinarajappa has said that the TDP’s protest against the Centre will continue until the BJP government announces a new railway zone with Visakhapatnam as headquarters. He was speaking at the one-day hunger strike organised by the TDP at the Convent Junction near the railway station here on Wednesday. For the last four years, the BJP government has been delaying the railway zone announcement citing unnecessary reasons, he alleged.
;
“The Chief Minister has visited New Delhi a number of times and discussed the issue and the other promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act with the Centre, but in vain. The Centre has been betraying the people of AP,” Chinarajappa alleged. TDP MPs, MLAs and other leaders also attacked the Narenda Modi-led BJP government over the railway zone issue. Minister for Roads and Buildings Ch Ayyanna Patrudu said that the TDP’s agitation was not for political gains.
Anakapalle MP M Srinivasa Rao said the TDP has been fighting with the Centre for the railway zone since 2014. But even after four years, the BJP government is still citing various reasons for denying a new railway zone to the State, he said. MP JC Diwakar Reddy said though the TDP has been staging a number of protests, there is no reaction from the Centre. “In a recent viral video, I have commented in that way, but opposition parties morphed the video and claimed that I have spoken against the sentiments of people of Vizag,” Diwakar Reddy alleged. Human Resource Development Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao also attended the Deeksha, but he left the venue after some time.