The political rigmarole over the laying the foundation stone of the Pune Metro Rail project took a new turn on Friday with senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan ‘inaugurating’ the project a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city for the same programme.
The Congress’ surprise move caught other political players napping after a truce in the symbolic war over the Pune Metro foundation stone was concluded between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday.
‘Bhoomi pujan’
Earlier in the day, a ‘bhoomi pujan’ was performed by Mr. Chavan in the city’s Swargate area in the presence of senior Congress leaders like Harshavardhan Patil.
“This is our symbolic protest against the BJP. In a bid to take advantage of the critical Mumbai and Pune civic polls, the Modi government has promptly approved Metro projects in these two cities. The work on the Nagpur Metro Rail had even begun while the Pune proposal was gathering dust,” Mr. Chavan said, claiming that the sanction for the Pune Metro project was withheld when the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014.
Mr. Chavan, who was Chief Minister when he sanctioned the proposal for the Pune Metro Rail project, censured the BJP for hijacking all credit for the project, accusing Mr. Modi of “political expediency” now that the civic polls were on the horizon.
NCP’s threat
Earlier in the week, the NCP too had taken the issue with the BJP for not allegedly inviting Mr. Pawar for the Mr. Modi’s programme and had threatened to go ahead with the inauguration.
However, after a few noises and alleged mollifying by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the NCP’s threat unravelled Pune Mayor and NCP leader Prashant Jagtap announcing on Wednesday that Mr. Pawar would share the dais with the Prime Minister who would inaugurate the project as scheduled.
The Congress termed the NCP’s ‘backing down’ as reneging on the solidarity shown by both parties over the inauguration imbroglio.
“The Congress had fully supported the NCP’s proposal that the Pune Metro project be inaugurated at the hands of Mr. Pawar a day ahead of Mr. Modi’s visit as a riposte to the BJP for attempting to take all credit for the project. Yet, Mr. Jagtap caved in the very next day. Hence, there was all the more reason for us to go ahead with our inauguration ceremony,” said Pune Congress unit chief Ramesh Bagwe.
