PM arrives in Pune today for inauguration of Metro project

Leading the attack, NCP president Sharad Pawar said the Prime Minister is coming to Pune to inaugurate an incomplete project. “The Prime Minister is coming tomorrow to Pune to inaugurate the Pune Metro project which has still not been completed. He will inaugurate an incomplete project…I have no complaints about it,” said Pawar while taking a dig at him.

Pawar said a few days back, the Pune Metro officials had taken him on a guided tour of the Pune Metro. “The Prime Minister will take the same route. While travelling by the Pune Metro, I realised that the work has still not been completed fully…Therefore, it is clear that the Prime Minister is set to inaugurate an incomplete Pune Metro,” he said.

Pune Metro officials said of the total 32 kilometre stretch of the Pune Metro on two corridors, 12 kilometre stretch — five in Pune city and 7 in Pimpri-Chinchwad — will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on Sunday. Metro officials said they have set a deadline of December to complete the project, work of which was flagged off by the Prime Minister in December 2017.

The city Congress said they will stage the protest on two counts. “One is regarding blatantly false statement made by the Prime Minister in Parliament that the Congress had spread Covid in Maharashtra. Secondly, the BJP in Pune is wrongly claiming credit for the Pune Metro work. The project was planned by the Congress-NCP government headed by Prithviraj Chavan in 2014. The UPA government had taken the lead. The real credit should go to Congress-NCP as the BJP was then not in favour of the project,” said Ramesh Iyer, spokesperson of the city Congress.

Iyer said the party has sought permission from the police to stage protest on four roads. “If the permission is not granted, then we will stage demonstration at the Congress headquarters in the city which is in close proximity of the PMC headquarters where the Prime Minister will hold a function,” he said.

Iyer said they have put up boards across the city carrying the message, “Go Back, Modi.” Iyer said the Congress is demanding an apology from the Prime Minister for making a “false and mischievous statement” regarding Covid, he said.

Releasing figures about how the BJP government has given a raw deal to Pune Metro project, Ravikant Varpe, Maharashtra youth working president of NCP, said, “While the Union government led by Prime Minister Modi has so far provided only Rs 2,000 crore for the project, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government has helped Pune Metro get Rs 9,000 crore. There can be no comparison between this. Yet, the BJP is claiming credit for the project. It has put up boards across Pune city, saying, we have done it. In fact, when the project which was envisaged by our leader Ajit Pawar and was being planned by Congress-NCP govt, BJP was in the forefront of opposing it. BJP had opposed the underground project. It was insisting on elevated project which would have displaced several structures and thrown people out of their homes.”

Varpe said the policy decision for Pune Metro was taken by UPA government headed by PM Manmohan Singh. “BJP led by its leader Girish Bapat had staged a protest against the project in city…And now are beating chest to falsely claim credit,” he said.

Varpe said they plan to hold a protest so that the people realise it is Congress-NCP government which was instrumental in doing the initial planning and setting the stage for implementing the Metro project. “BJP is trying to gain political mileage out of it when the project has not been completed. They are inaugurating the project when only 12 kilometres of the project, which will not benefit a large number of commuters, is completed. All this is being done for the sake of civic elections,” he alleged.

AAP spokesperson Mukund Kirdat said, “BJP was doing all this to distract attention from the all-round failure of its government. The party is in trouble in Uttar Pradesh and therefore is trying to deflect people’s attention.”

Baba Kamble, president of Pimpri-Chinchwad Rickshaw Panchayat said, “The initiation of the Pune Metro will throw life off gear for the hapless autorickshaw drivers. We will have to drastically reduce our rates. As the project goes for completion, we will lose large number of commuters. Already we have been hit badly by Covid. We are planning to stage a protest, as the BJP government, instead of strengthening other modes of transport, which have served the people for years is trying to bundle them out.”