Rajasthan CM Pinarayi Vijayan defends SilverLine, cagey about Thrikkakara

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Claiming that the public support to his government was on a steady rise, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said his government would implement all proposed development projects, including the SilverLine semi high-speed rail corridor, in a time-bound manner.
He was addressing an offline news conference after nearly two years on the occasion of the first anniversary of the government.
Terming the protests against the K-Rail project as "anti-development", Vijayan said the government was committed to carrying the project forward despite all sorts of resistance. "Protests against projects are common. The government will not backtrack from implementing developmental projects fearing protests," he said.
Vijayan said his government was working with a renewed vigour and confidence that stemmed from a firm belief that the government could perform well in every sector in the last one year.
He said the LDF could win more seats in areas that witnessed large scale protests against the Silverline project in the just-concluded civic polls.
However, he did not give a direct answer to a question if he considered the Thrikkakara byelection as an evaluation of his government's performance.