Modi should land in Telangana only after statement on Kazipet coach factory: Vinod Kumar

Hyderabad: Telangana State Planning Board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar on Thursday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should land in the State only after making a clear statement on the Kazipet Railway Coach Factory, as promised in the 13th Schedule, Section 93 of the AP State Bifurcation Act.

Speaking to the media, he said people of the State, including those in Warangal district, have been fighting and waiting for the coach factory for four decades. Kumar said it was surprising that Modi was coming to Kazipet to start only a wagon repair centre instead of the coach factory in Kazipet.

He clarified that only coach factory should be set up in Kazipet; “it is the right of people of the State”. Kumar lashed out at the Congress and BJP governments at the Center for playing hide and seek regarding the coach factory for the past four decades. “Whoever is the Minister of Railways at the Centre, they are setting up railway coach factories in their respective States”, said Kumar while questioning the spirit of national unity.

The coach factory went to Bengaluru when Jafar Sharif was the Railway minister, it went to West Bengal when Mamata Banerjee was the minister. Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar took it to Bihar when they were ministers. The factory was moved to Rai Bareilly when Sonia Gandhi was the UPA chairperson. Piyush Goyal took it to Maharashtra Latur when he was the Railway minister. Modi set up railway coach factory in Dahol, Gujarat.

Kumar reminded Modi that after the BJP government came to power in 2014, it announced that no new railway coach factories would be set up in the country but in April 2018 coach factories were given to Latur and in April 2022 in Dahol. where is justice in this, he asked.