Chennai Metro, last project dedicated by Jayalalithaa

December 12, 2016 07:47 am | Updated 07:48 am IST - CHENNAI:

Jayalalithaa was rushed to hospital two days after inaugurating the second stretch of Metro.

Jayalalithaa was rushed to hospital two days after inaugurating the second stretch of Metro.

On September 20, AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa dedicated to the city, the second stretch of Chennai Metro Rail from Little Mount to Chennai airport, making it the last project she launched while in office as Chief Minister. Two days later, she was rushed to Apollo Hospitals.

Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu fondly recollected the event: “I always admired her courage, conviction, dynamism, wisdom — bold administration. She was very affectionate towards me,” he said after paying last respects to her.

After inaugurating the line through video conferencing, she spoke of how the share of public transport will substantially increase with the integration of buses, suburban rail, air services and Metro Rail and eventually the Monorail.

The Metro Rail project has always been a bone of contention, with Ms. Jayalalithaa and DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin squabbling over who should take credit for bringing the facility to the city.

In 2015, soon after the first service of Chennai Metro between Koyambedu and Alandur was launched, the DMK claimed to have initiated the project.

She was quick to retaliate and dismiss their claims; rattling out every single detail about the progress of the project during her regime and charged the DMK with confusing people to gain political mileage.

Apart from the Independence Day celebrations, the last public project the former Chief Minister personally attended was also that of Chennai Metro Rail.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.