THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: KPCC president M. M. Hassan has flayed the Modi government for indulging in ‘parochial politics’ on the Kochi Metro issue and said 90 percent of the work was completed during the previous UDF government’s tenure. He was referring to the PMO excluding Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, former chief minister Oommen Chandy and local MLA P.T. Thomas, besides DMRC principal advisor E. Sreedharan from the list of invitees to share the dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Kochi Metro inauguration on Saturday.
However, later the PMO informed the chief minister’s office that Mr Chennithala and Mr Sreedharan have been included in the list. Mr Hassan said that the exclusion of the Congress leaders and Mr Sreedharan was an insult to the Malayalis. “It was during the UDF government’s tenure that 90 percent of the work for Kochi Metro was completed. The UDF and the Congress have played significant roles in making Kochi Metro a reality,” he said.
The UDF will not boycott the inauguration of Kochi Metro on Saturday, he said. He also criticised the Ayush department for its advice to pregnant women to avoid non- vegetarian food and sex. “These are communal fascist ideas to curb the people’s freedom to pursue their food habits. It is part of the Sangh Parivar/RSS’s secret agenda to chart out the policies from the kitchen to bedroom,” he added. Earlier, Mr Chennithala said that the Ernakulam DCC will decide on the form of protest against the PMO’s exclusion of UDF leaders from the Kochi Metro launch.
