Nostalgic Didi Skips Metro Service Flag-off By PM
Hours before Mr Modi flagged off the services, the CM, in her apparent bid to remind him of her contribution, posted on social media, “Allow me to be a little nostalgic today. As the Railways Minister of India, I was fortunate in planning and sanctioning series of Metro Railway corridors in metropolitan Kolkata. I had drawn the blueprints, arranged the funds, initiated the works and ensured that the different ends of the city ( Joka, Garia, Airport, Sector V, etc) were connected by an intra- city Metro grid”
Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee skipped the inauguration of four metro railway projects including services on three new routes by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday amid her tirade against the BJP over the attacks on the migrant workers from the state on the suspicion of being Bangladeshi infiltrators in its domain.
The Trinamul Congress supremo however turned “nostalgic” and recalled her tenure when she had conceptualized the three new metro routes– Noapara-Bimanbandar (Yellow Line), Sealdah-Esplanade (Green Line) of the East West metro corridor, Beliaghata-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (Orange Line), after becoming the railway minister in 2009.
Hours before Mr Modi flagged off the services, the CM, in her apparent bid to remind him of her contribution, posted on social media, “Allow me to be a little nostalgic today. As the Railways Minister of India, I was fortunate in planning and sanctioning series of Metro Railway corridors in metropolitan Kolkata. I had drawn the blueprints, arranged the funds, initiated the works and ensured that the different ends of the city ( Joka, Garia, Airport, Sector V, etc) were connected by an intra- city Metro grid.”
She stated, “Later, as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, I had the additional privilege of taking part in execution of the projects. From the State, I arranged free land, paved roads, arranged rehabilitation of displaced people, removed impediments, and ensured all help in the execution of projects. Our chief secretaries successively held series of coordination meeting to ensure integration of execution agencies.”
The CM added, “My planning as Railways Minister got fulfilment in my participation in execution. Expanding Metro infrastructure has been a long journey for me. Allow me some nostalgia today.”