Ten opposition parties in Odisha, including the BJD and Congress, on Saturday voiced strong opposition to the Railway Board’s decision to transfer the Palasa-Ichhapuram section from the East Coast Railway (ECoR) to the South Coast Railway (SCoR), labelling the move “anti-Odisha and unjust.”
At a joint meeting, representatives from the BJD, Congress, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) Liberation, Forward Bloc, NCP, RJD, Samata Kranti Dal, and Samajwadi Party resolved to stage a protest at the ECoR headquarters in Bhubaneswar to demand a rollback of the decision.
The meeting strongly condemned the decision of the Railway Board to transfer the Palasa-Ichhapura section to South Coast Railway from the East Coast Railway headquartered in Bhubaneswar and called it “anti-Odisha, unjust and unacceptable”.
The Palasa–Ichchapuram section is currently under the administration of the Khurda Road division within the East Coast Railway (ECoR), and the Railway Board decided to merge the stretch with the newly formed South Coast Railway (SCoR) zone.
The opposition parties stated that transferring the Palasa-Ichhapuram (about 50 km) railway section from the Khurdha Road Division of the East Coast Railway to the Visakhapatnam Division of the South Coast Railway will impact revenue generation for the state.
Opposition leaders, including CPI(M) state secretary Suresh Panigrahy, argued that reducing the size of ECoR—the country’s highest revenue-earning zone—would inevitably lead to a decline in earnings.
The BJP-led NDA government’s plan to regionalise the Indian Railways is “condemnable”, they said.
They alleged that the Centre was “weakening” Odisha by transferring the vital section from ECoR to SCoR.
The parties further criticised the NDA government’s “regionalisation” of the railways and accused the “double-engine” BJP government of ignoring Odisha’s legitimate rights.
Panigrahy added that if the Palasa-Ichhapuram section is moved to the Andhra Pradesh-based SCoR, the Centre should reciprocate by transferring railway divisions in Sundargarh, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, and Jharsuguda from the South Eastern and South East Central Railways to the ECoR zone.
The dissatisfaction has also spread to the ruling camp, with several BJP leaders openly opposing the Railway Board’s decision. Berhampur MP Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy and MLAs K. Anik Kumar (Berhampur), Manoranjan Dyansamantra (Chikiti), and Purna Chandra Sethy (Khalikote) have all publicly expressed their displeasure over the administrative restructuring.
ପଲାସା ଓ ଇଚ୍ଛାପୁରମ ଅଞ୍ଚଳକୁ ପୂର୍ବତଟରୁ କାଢି ଦକ୍ଷିଣତଟ ରେଳବାଇରେ ମିଶ୍ରଣକୁ ବିଜେଡିର ବିରୋଧ।
ଏହା ଡବଲ୍ ଇଞ୍ଜିନ୍ ସରକାରର ଓଡ଼ିଶା ଦିବସ ଉପହାର।
ଆନ୍ଧ୍ରକୁ ଖୁସି କରିବା ପାଇଁ ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ଅଞ୍ଚଳକୁ ଟେକି ଦିଆଯାଇଛି।
ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ୨୦ଜଣ ଲୋକସଭା ସାଂସଦ ଓ ରାଜ୍ୟ ବିଜେପି ନେତାଙ୍କ ମୁହଁ ଚୁପ କାହିଁକି?#BJPAntiOdisha #ହଟାଅବିଜେପି… pic.twitter.com/qFQT9LCEhd
— Biju Janata Dal (@bjd_odisha) April 3, 2026
The Odisha government, in a statement, said, “It is clarified that the Palasa–Ichchapuram section does not host any major originating freight revenue station, and therefore, there will be no adverse impact on the revenue of East Coast Railway due to administrative restructuring.”
