more-in The Visakha Railway Zone Sadhana Samithi has alleged that the ‘Dharma Porata Deeksha’ is nothing but an election meeting of the Telugu Desam Party, organised to attack the BJP and the Opposition parties, to cover up its own mistakes and divert the attention of voters ahead of the 2019 elections. This was evident from the way Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and party leaders devoted a greater part of the meeting to highlight the injustice done by the BJP by non-implementation of the promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, and to justify the party’s failure to exert pressure on the Modi government for nearly four years. The Samithi leaders said that, had the TDP been committed to the realisation of the railway zone with headquarters in Visakhapatnam, on which Mr. Chandrababu Naidu had declared in the Assembly on September 4, 2014, that getting the new zone with headquarters in Visakhapatnam was his objective, he would have made a statement on the efforts made by the State government in this regard. Samithi convener and CPI State assistant secretary J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy said that it was high time the Modi government declared the railway zone without any further delay as the people were already losing faith in the oft-repeated statement of the BJP leaders that the new zone with headquarters in Visakhapatnam was imminent. Panel at grassroots level He demanded immediate declaration of the zone and appointment of an OSD (Officer on Special Duty) of the rank of General Manager to coordinate with two GMs. He said samithi was getting ready for the final showdown on the issue. Committees would be formed at the grass-root level to involve all people and holding ‘rail rokos’ to exert pressure on the Centre. YSRCP spokesperson Prasada Reddy alleged that crores of rupees was spent on organisation of the TDP ‘deeksa’ but the issue pertaining to North Andhra, particularly the railway zone, were not highlighted. Lok Satta leader M.S.N. Murthy, PCC secretary S. Sudhakar and AU Students JAC president Samayam Hemant Kumar spoke.

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