THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The PMO on Thursday confirmed that DMRC chief advisor E. Sreedharan and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala would be among VIPs on the dais when Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags of Kochi Metro on Saturday. But local legislator P. T. Thomas and Prof K.V. Thomas MP are not on the list. The PMO had received widespread criticism for the omission of Mr Sreedharan. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, through a Facebook post, confirmed that the metro man would be present at the inaugural. He also said Mr Chennithala has also been invited to the event as per the letter he received from the PMO.
Meanwhile, its decision to inform the BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan before sending an official confirmation to the CMO drew flak from tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran. Mr Rajasekharan had earlier held a press conference in Pathanamthitta to announce that Mr Sreedharan had been included on the list. It was after this CM came out with his Facebook post. Kadakampally retaliated through a tweet, “Letter from @CMOKerala got the result. Taking credit of what the Govt has done is BJP State president’s job nowadays”. Kochi Metro Rail Ltd had sent a list of 17 VIPs to the PMO. But they replied that only seven persons could be accommodated on the dais including the Prime Minister.
