Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not inviting chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for the inaugural ceremony of Delhi Airport Metro Express line’s extention. He recalled how the PM advocated for ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ (world is a family) in front of the world leaders during the recently-concluded G20 Leaders’ Summit, whereas, he fails to invite Kejriwal to the inauguration event, which he believes is an antithesis to the proposition.
“Just a week before PM Modi in front of the world leaders said ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ meaning the World is a family…And now in your own country, you don’t invite a three-time elected chief minister to the inauguration of Metro,” he told news agency ANI.
Another Delhi minister Atishi recommended PM Modi to ‘rise above party lines’ and said he is the ‘guardian of states’. Not inviting CM Kejriwal to inaugurate a project which constitutes funds from Delhi government shows the ‘frivolous thinking’ of PM Modi, she said. “It also doesn’t suit the dignity the Prime Minister’s position when Modi goes to inaugurate a 2-km-long metro line all by himself,” she added.
PM Modi inaugurated an extention of the Delhi Metro’s Airport Express line to Dwarka Sector 25, a station which is named after YashoBhoomi – the state-of-the-art convention and expo centre – which the Prime Minister also launched on Sunday.
The metro station was extended by nearly two km further from Dwarka Sector 21 station. The YashoBhoomi Dwarka Sector 25 station was constructed underground using the cut-and-cover technology. The new metro station will enable people to reach the convention centre conviniently.
A high-speed metro service, the Airport Metro line will now be operated at 120 kmph speed from earlier 90 kmph, reducing the travel time to 21 mins from New Delhi to YashoBhoomi Dwarka Sector 25.
