A case of blatant discrimination

As far as AP's owes are concerned, BJP has outsmarted the British in Divide and Rule policy and the Congress in vote bank politics. It was sure that BJP on its own could not win a single seat, either for the Assembly or the Parliament, from the present AP. region . It has some hold in Telangana. So it supported the Congress in the division of the undivided A.P.

Having denied the assurance given by the then Prime Minister, both the Govt and its limbs like the NITI Aayog and the Indian Railways have been ruling out the possibilities of a statutorily incorporated New Railway zone, as Visakhapatnam is not feasible to set up a railway zone. If it is not viable, Rayalaseema has the Guntakal zone. Neither the state govt asked for it nor the Center gave any attention to the cry in the wilderness.

Suddenly, days before the announcement of the Election Schedule and promulgation of the Code, how the South Coast Railway Zone at Visakhapatnam was made possible? With the creation of a new Division, Rayagada, it looks as though, it is more to appease the Odisha portion of the Visakhapatnam Division than to accord convenience to AP. It was a long-pending demand, even by the united AP. to cede Visakhapatnam Division to the South Central Railway. Without singing a swan song to one of the oldest divisions in the country, Visakhapatnam, along with Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada divisions can be reorganised.

By creating a new Division for the Odisha section, an opportunity is given to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to demand to reallocate the sections in in Guntakal division of the Kannada and the Tamil speaking areas, about 150 kms to their respective territories; South Western Railway at Hubli in Karnataka and Southern Railway in Chennai, T.N. The BJP lobby is very powerful in the region in Karnataka and the AIADMK in T.N. is an election ally of the BJP.

K C Kalkura, Kurnool