Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Assembly witnessed a face-off between the opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over Waltair Railway Division.
Both BJD and Congress came down heavily on Odisha’s BJP government, accusing it of remaining silent as the profit-making Waltair division is being delinked from the East Coast Railway Zone (ECoR).
The issue was raised in the House during Zero Hour by BJD member Ranendra Pratap Swain and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Rama Chandra Kadam, who claimed that ECoR would lose an annual revenue of over Rs 20,000 crore if the Waltair division is merged with the newly-formed South Coast Railway Zone.
Swain, an eight-time MLA, blamed Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha with BJD support from Odisha.
“I feel ashamed that we voted for the man who has been working against Odisha’s interest after becoming Railway Minister,” Swain said.
He further argued that the areas of Waltair division should be merged with the proposed Rayagada Division instead of being included in the South Coast Railway Zone. “I demand a statement from Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on this issue,” he added.
CLP leader Rama Chandra Kadam alleged that the BJP-led central government was neglecting the interests of Odisha by allowing the Waltair division to merge with the South Coast Railway Zone in Andhra Pradesh.
He also announced that Congress would launch an agitation if the Waltair division is delinked from the ECoR Zone.
However, Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo rejected the Opposition’s allegations, claiming that Odisha had benefited the most from the BJP government at the Centre.
“Different railway projects worth Rs 23,000 crore are being implemented in the state. While the Waltair division is getting delinked from the ECoR zone, it is getting a newly formed Rayagada Division. Therefore, ECoR will continue to have three divisions under its jurisdiction as earlier,” Singh Deo said.
“East Coast Railway will continue to have three divisions — Rayagada, Sambalpur, and Khurda Road,” he added.
Singh Deo further explained that the highest revenue-generating railway line, the Kothavalasa–Kirandul (KK) line, would remain under the Rayagada division within the jurisdiction of the ECoR. “So, there is no loss of revenue for the East Coast zone,” he added.
The Deputy CM also alleged that neither the BJD nor Congress had opposed the formation of the South Coast Railway Zone when the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill was passed by the UPA government.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for sanctioning a new railway division at Rayagada. “I assure this House that the rail network in the southern parts of the state will be enhanced after the completion of the Rayagada Division,” he said.
BJP member Tankadhar Tripathy said Odisha had witnessed significant development in the railway sector over the past 10 years under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership.
