TDP shifts deeksha venue

Hyderabad: The Telugu Desam Party has been forced to shift its venue from Gnanapuram entrance of Visakhapatnam Railway Station for its MPs' one-day deeksha demanding creation of special railway zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters, with the Railways denying permission for the protest scheduled for Wednesday.

The TDP has shifted the protest camp to an open place near Chavulamodam Junction close to the railway station. All the 20 MPs (both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha), Deputy Chief Minister Ch Ayyannapatrudu, ministers Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Sujaya Krishna Ranga Row, K Atchennaidu and all the MLAs and MLCs in the north Andhra region will be on hunger strike.

As rain is likely to play spoil sport, the party urban wing has erected waterproof sheds for the participants covering the entire dais. As the place is not very spacious, the party leadership has decided to mobilise crowds in two shifts. In the first session (till lunch session) the leaders are mobilizing the crowds from the city who will attend the camp till afternoon. Workers from rural areas will replace the urban crowd in the afternoon.

Reacting to Divisional Railway Manager Mukul Saran Mathur’s letter denying permission for the protest, TDP urban wing president and MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar said there was no need of the railway authorities’ permission for deeksha. “As a matter of curtsey, the party informed the DRM. In fact, the place where we have originally planned the protest does not come under the Railway jurisdiction,” Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar told The Hans India.