Visakhapatnam railway zone on the cards yet again?

Going by the speech of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the much-awaited railway zone for Andhra Pradesh, with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters, seems to be headed towards the right direction. While speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Rajnath Singh said that the centre would re-examine the committee’s report on the railway zone, which was “negative”.

The Union Home Minister, along with Union Home Minister Piyush Goel, restated that the centre was committed to developing the state of Andhra Pradesh and he firmly believed that a new railway zone, with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters, will be established.

Speaking on the Polavaram project, Rajnath Singh said, “Polavaram project is the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh, and the entire country understands this.” He further added that the centre, in its very first cabinet meeting, had taken the necessary steps to ensure that there were no hurdles to the project in due course of time.

Earlier, BJP MP K. Haribabu too said that centre would soon announce the railway zone for Andhra Pradesh. “The Railway Board was averse to the establishment of the new zone. Its formation is a political decision. The Railway Minister would issue instructions to the board in this regard soon,” Haribabu said.

The past few months saw many protests and agitations take place across Andhra Pradesh, with state’s leaders exerting pressure on the BJP-led NDA government to fulfill the promises made to during the bifurcation.