TDP members walk out of meeting with South Central Railway

TDP MPs walked out of a meeting with South Central Railway officials here Tuesday, demanding that their 'sentiment' for setting up a new railway zone at Visakhapatnam be conveyed to the Ministry of Railways.

"The MPs raised the demand for a new railway zone, but they too said it is a decision to be taken by the Government of India.

They asked the South Central Railway to convey their sentiment (on the railway zone) to the Ministry of Railways.

We assured them that their sentiment will be conveyed," SCR General Manager Vinod Kumar Yadav told reporters after the meeting ended abruptly.

The YSR Congress and BJP MPs did not attend the meeting.

The meeting, convened by SCR General Manager, was to discuss ongoing railway projects in Andhra Pradesh and passenger related issues.

After the General Manager briefed the 12 TDP MPs about the railway works, the latter raised slogans, demanding establishment of a new railway zone at Visakhapatnam in accordance with the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

They protested the Centres 'indifference' on the issue and walked out of the meeting.

Outside the Electrical Traction Training Centre at Satyanarayanapuram, where the meeting was held, TDP workers staged a protest on the railway zone issue.

The MPs too joined the protest after walking out of the meeting and alleged that the Centre had been cheating the state over the railway zone by making contradictory claims.

Also, no problem related to the railways in the state had been resolved in the last four and a half years, they added.

"It is futile to attend such meetings," they said.

TDP MPs Kesineni Srinivas, M Murali Mohan, Maganti Venkateswara Rao, K Ravindra Kumar and others attended the meeting.