Palakkad : A recent deliberation and demand on the need to form a new Mangalore railway division where a group of BJP MP’s from Karnataka approaching the union railway minister has led to backlash from the Member of Parliaments from Kerala who has termed the move as ‘discrimination’ towards Kerala as the creation of a new division will lead to the bifurcation of the Palakkad railway division thus dimishing its capabilities.
Rajyasabha MP and CPI(M) leader John Brittas condemned the move and has asked railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday to review a proposed move to bifurcate the Palakkad railway division to create a new Mangalore division, saying it appeared to be a “larger conspiracy” against Kerala.
In a letter to Vaishnaw, the Rajya Sabha member said the move, “reportedly under the guise of administrative restructuring”, is a direct threat to diminish the capabilities of the Palakkad division further and undermine the progress and convenience to passengers and businesses.
Earlier, VK Shreekandan, the Congress MP from Palakkad has condemned the move and has termed it discriminative and one-sided and has stated that the Congress party will oppose the move as it will lead to loss of revenue and thus leads to eliminating the Palakkad division from the railway map.
“The move is unacceptable and we will oppose the move at any cost. Our MP’s will meet the union railway minister and convey our concern”, said VK Shreekandan MP to the media.
Meanwhile on July 17th, Minister of state for Railways V Somanna asked three railway zones operating in Dakshina Kannada to come out with a plan of action within a fortnight so that only one zone will have jurisdiction over the district.
While Southern Railways holds the major stake controlling about 40 route kms network, including two major stations and one port, Konkan railway corporation Ltd and south western railway too have their networks in the district.
The resistance from Kerala MPs come after a representation of the MPs from the BJP had approached the union railway minister to formulate a plan to establish the Mangalore railway division. If the division becomes a reality, Palakkad railway division will cease to exist as a part of the division will have to join the new division Kerala States News India: Top News India, States News, States News Headlines, Online State News India, State Politics news
