Bidar-Gulbarga railway line, the long-awaited dream of Hyderabad Karnataka, is going to be realised 16 years after its initiation. The stretch is scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bidar on Sunday.
However, the way the Railway Ministry has planned the inaugural event allegedly sidelining veteran Congress leader from the region M. Mallikarjun Kharge has attracted criticism, particularly from the Congress. Many view it as a well thought-out political move by the BJP to take complete credit for the project.
Before finalising the date, the place and invitees for the event, the Railway Ministry reportedly did not consult either Mr. Kharge or the State government that shared half of the project cost of ₹ 1,500 crore apart from providing land free.
There is also an opinion stating that the event was planned on the same date when Mr. Kharge, who is the Chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC), would be busy holding a pre-scheduled PAC meeting in Delhi.
“They [BJP leaders] deliberately avoided me. If they wanted to invite me, they would have consulted me well in advance allowing me to reschedule my programmes in accordance with the event,” Mr. Kharge told The Hindu over phone from Delhi on Friday. He lashed out at the Union government for “consciously ignoring” the Congress that had made “significant contributions” to the project.
However, BJP leaders dismissed the allegations. “There is no intention to avoid Mr. Kharge or the Congress. The Railway Ministry finalised the schedule as per the convenience of the Prime Minister. The project was initiated by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee -led National Democratic Government at the Centre and completed during Mr. Modi’s regime. In between, though the United Progressive Alliance ruled for two terms, it did not take any interest in getting the project ready,” Baburao Chauhan, vice-president of the State BJP unit, said.
