RailEnquiry

Union Tribal Affairs Minister, V. Kishore Chandra Deo's suggestion to the Antony committee for shifting the East Coast railway headquarters from Bhubaneswar to Vishakhapatnam has triggered a wave of protests in the state.

The committee has been set up by the Centre to address the concerns of leaders from coastal Andhra Pradesh to ensure smooth division of the state. Deo is an MP from Andhra Pradesh. Presently Vishakhapatnam is part of East Coast railway.

While the ruling Biju Janata Dal began a three day protests from Thursday by staging demonstrations outside railway stations across the state, the opposition Congress and the BJP are equally upset with Deo's proposal to the Antony committee.  

The issue has given the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD some more ammunition against the UPA-ruled Centre. Finance minister,  Prasanna Acharya said the suggestion was yet another conspiracy of the Centre against Odisha.  "The headquarters of the East Coast railway was established in Bhubaneswar in 2003 after a long struggle. It cannot be taken away from the state," he said.  

The BJD youth wing president, Sanjay Dasburma, who led the protests on Thursday, demanded the resignation of both Deo and  union minister of chemicals and fertilizers, Srikant Jena, who hails from Odisha, "In fact state Congress president Jaydev Jena should prevail upon the Prime Minister to drop Deo from his cabinet," said Dasburma.   

Deo, meanwhile, has sought to clear the air over the issue saying that he had suggested that South East Railway headquarters be shifted to Bhubaneswar first and then the East Coast Railways headquarters be moved to Vishakhapatnam with Vijaywada division under its control.

This, according to him, will benefit both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The East Coast (EC) Railway presently covers railway network in eastern and southern Odisha and parts of Andhra Pradesh.   

Union minister, Srikant Jena, on the other hand, dismissed the demands for his resignation saying that the views expressed by Deo were his own. He also said that he had played a crucial role in establishing the East Coast railway headquarter in Bhubaneswar. " They are unnecessarily playing it up," said Jena.     

Senior BJP leader, Bijay Mohapatra said that East Coast railway headquarter will not be allowed to be moved from city under any circumstances. " People will thwart any such designs of the Centre," he said.