Visakhapatnam: District YSRC president Gudivada Amarnath on Thursday launched ‘Atma Gourava Yatra’ for a separate railway zone. YSRC leaders Botsa Satyanarayana, Ambati Rambabu, Dharmana Prasada Rao and others flagged off the padayatra from Anakapalle in which thousands of YSRC activists joined in support of Mr Amarnath. Mr Amarnath said a railway zone with Visakhapatnam as headquarters was an unfulfilled dream of the people of north coastal Andhra Pradesh over the last five decades. Vizag MP K. Haribabu had failed in mounting pressure on the Union government to get a zone for Vizag. I am ready to sacrifice my life for the railway zone, which can resolve various problems of the region and generate employment,” said Mr Amarnath.

On the first day, Mr Amarnath covered about 8.7 km, including Gandhi Centre, Umasankar Theatre Road, Venkata Jaggarao Thota Road, Gopalapuram, etc. YSRC leader Botsa Satyanarayana said that a special railway zone with Visakhapatnam as the headquarters and special category status are the constitutional rights of Andhra Pradesh as promised during the state bifurcation.

YSRC chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will participate in the padayatra and most likely address a public meeting on April 9, the last date of the padayatra. On the same day, in 2003, Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had launched his 1,500 km padayatra from Chevella in Ranga Reddy district. YSRC leader Dharm-ana Prasada Rao enumerated the TD government’s failures and asked the public to support Mr Amarnath in getting the railway zone for Vizag. CPM leader Narasinga Rao, YSRC leaders Koyya Prasad Reddy, M. Vijaya Prasad and others were present. The padayatra will end in Bheemili on April 9, spanning about 200 km and covering eight constituencies of Vizag city.