Sharad Pawar takes Pune metro trial ride, draws flak from BJP
The NCP chief was accompanied by the party office-bearers and Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha-Metro) managing director Brijesh Dixit.
PUNE: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar takes metro trial ride between Phugewadi and Pimpri-Chinchwad on Monday. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders raised objection to Pawar’s metro ride before the inauguration of the project.
The NCP chief was accompanied by the party office-bearers and Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha-Metro) managing director Brijesh Dixit.
Pune Metro plans to start commercial operations of two priority stretches —Phugewadi to Pimpri-Chinchwad and Vanaz to Garware college — by January end or February this year.
Dixit shared with Pawar the ticket system and other details of the project during the trial run.
With the BJP ruling Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations, the party plans to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the Pune metro rail. Deputy chief minister and Pune district guardian minister Ajit Pawar has also kickstarted the metro trials in the city in the past.
BJP state unit president Chandrakant Patil said, “Pawar is not holding any constitutional post and yet the Maha-Metro officials offered him a trial ride before the inauguration of the project. I am going to raise this issue in the assembly. Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad have 11 MLAs and MP Girish Bapat. Pawar is a Rajya Sabha MP. If Maha-Metro wants to offer trials to political leaders, they should invite all MPs and MLAs from the city.”
Patil said the credit for Pune Metro project goes to the prime minister while the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis took up the plan on priority. “However, others having no contribution to the metro project are trying to take the credit,” he said.
