Update on Narendra Modi Vishakhapatnam tour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to give a green signal to the Vishakhapatnam railway zone during his visit to the city on March 1. There have been indications to this effect as the BJP leaders have impressed upon the party high comand to make the important announcement crucial to the existence of the party in Visakhapatnam and north Andhra.

The party has three key members in the city in Vishakhapatnam MP K Hari Babu, Vishakhapatnam North MLA Vishnu Kumar Raju who is also the BJP Floor Leader in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and north Andhra graduates constituency MLC PVN Madhav.

There is no denying the fact that all these three were elected only because of the support of the ruling Telugu Desam party when they were together. Now that the BJP and TDP parted ways these leaders do not want to contest again lest they should lose even the deposit. But Modi making the announcement on separate Railway zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters will certainly boost the chances of the party in the coming general elections in the city where the BJP was once very strong during the first half of 1980s when it was in power in the Vishakhapatnam Municipal Corporation with the late NSN Reddy elected as MLA and later becoming the first Mayor of the corporation.

Visakhapatnam is ideally suited to be the zonal headquarters of the Indian Railways which owns vast lands in the city. Modi will also be addressing the public meeting at the railway Grounds here on March 1.

The new Vizag Railway zone will be able to attract around Rs 5000 crore investments. Waltair division of Vishakhapatnam is already the second highest revenue generator in the country with a turnover of Rs12,000 crore. And the proposed new zone will generate a few thousand jobs which is why the local BJP leaders desperately want the railway zone announcement before the general elections.

Meanwhile, a delegation of BJP leaders from Andhra Pradesh met Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday and demanded formation of a railway zone in Visakhapatnam. In a memorandum submitted to Goyal, they said the North Andhra region, which consists of Srikaulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts, is very backward and needs impetus for development. “This region has been eagerly looking at the Centre for granting the railway zone ever since our government was formed in 2014. Sanction of a railway zone to North Andhra would make the people of this region jubilant and this will also trigger faster socio-economic development in this region,” it stated.

It also stated that this was an important demand of the region, socially, economically, emotionally and politically. The Andhra Pradesh BJP leaders said during the 2014 general elections they had assured the public that a railway zone would come up Visakhapatnam. Sources said The Railway Minister responded positively to the demand and assured the delegation that he would look into the matter. The issue of Visakhapatnam Railway Zone has been wavering for quite some time now. Earlier, it was reported that a parliamentary sub-committee is still studying the feasibility of setting up a separate railway zone in the State. Several internal committees of railways have however said that it was not feasible, both financially and operationally.