Congress ‘lays foundation’ for Pune Metro

Mumbai: In order to protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone for the Pune Metro on Saturday, the Congress on Friday conducted the ceremony itself and alleged that the BJP is ‘playing politics’ over the issue. Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan laid the foundation stone for the Metro in the presence of other Congress leaders. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had threatened to do the same a few days ago, but dropped its plan after the BJP invited party chief Sharad Pawar for Saturday’s event.

The project was declared when Mr Chavan was the CM during the Congress-NCP regime, and Mr Chavan, Harshwardhan Patil, Vishwajit Kadam, Ramesh Bagwe and a few workers attended the Congress’ protest event on Friday. “The BJP government’s intention of laying the foundation stone for the Pune Metro now is not clear. In fact, it was delayed and Nagpur Metro was given priority. But today, the BJP wants to show that it is putting an emphasis on development and, hence, the ceremony is scheduled to have the PM’s presence,” Mr Chavan said after the protest.

The Congress, incidentally, has not been invited for Saturday’s programme. Mr Bagwe claimed that the Congress and NCP had decided to lay the foundation stone of the Pune Metro in the hands of Mr Pawar. “A resolution had been passed by the Pune Municipal Corporation that Sharad Pawarji would lay the foundation stone for the Pune Metro. But the NCP mayor joined hands with the BJP and took a U-turn from the resolution. Now, the NCP chief will remain present during the BJP’s programme,” Mr Bagwe said.

Mr Pawar would be sharing the stage with Mr Modi in Pune on Saturday. The NCP had threatened to perform the ceremony before the PM’s arrival if Mr Pawar was not invited. However, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis intervened in the matter and invited Mr Pawar for the ceremony, after which the NCP withdrew its protest. The NCP had threatened to conduct a function on Friday in Pune, which has been a stronghold of the party for years now.