Indore, May 31 (IANS) After Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first-ever metro rail service in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore on Saturday, the BJP and Congress engaged in a war of words over taking the credit for the metro services.

Senior BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said that under the leadership of PM Modi and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, Indore is scaling new heights of development.

He stated that the city has witnessed the evolution of public transport from bullock carts and horse carriages to buses.

“Now, the launch of metro rail is another historic moment,” said Vijayvargiya.

Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu, who was present in Indore during the launch of the metro train, said that PM Modi has given a major gift to Indore in the form of metro rail service.

However, a Congress leader said that when he was Union Urban Development Minister, during 2011, he took the initiative of metro rail for Madhya Pradesh and allocated Rs 17 crore to the Madhya Pradesh government to prepare a DPR.

“Today is a historic day for Indore and the entire Madhya Pradesh as the metro rail started in Indore. I still remember when I was the Union Urban Development Minister, the then MP’s Urban Development Minister, Babul Gaur, came to me. I expressed my anguish at why MP is not investing in metro rail,” Kamal Nath said.

He further added, “Babulal Gaur said, the MP government do not have that money. In the next meeting, I approved Rs 17 crore and asked him to prepare a DPR for the metro rail. When I became the Chief Minister, the DPR was approved, and I laid the foundation stone in Indore in 2019.”

The first phase of the Indore metro has been built at Rs 1,520 crore. It has five metro stations, all named in honour of prominent women like Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Terminal, Maharani Lakshmi Bai Station, Rani Avanti Bai Lodhi Station, Rani Durgavati Station, and Veerangana Jhalkari Bai Station.

Indore became the 24th city in the country to launch metro services.

Meanwhile, the first phase of the Bhopal metro is also under construction, which is expected to be made operational by July or August this year.

–IANS

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