As Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje flagged off the inaugural run of Jaipur Metro on Wednesday morning, the event became much of a political slugfest between the formerCongress government and the ruling BJP. While an ecstatic crowd of BJP workers thronged the Mansarovar metro station and propped up lifesize posters of Raje along metro stations thanking her for the 'gift', Congress workers distributed sweets outside metro stations hailing former CM Ashok Gehlot's 'far-sightedness'.
Right at the beginning of her second tenure, Raje had expressed her disapproval on the metro project and called it a loss-making venture. Jaipur Metro that has been Gehlot's pet project and was implemented in 2010 has been repeatedly run down by the Raje government.
On Wednesday, even as Raje could not ignore the palpable excitement of first-time commuters and party workers at the inaugural run of the metro, she reiterated that the design of the 9.63 km corridor was 'flawed' and hampered the 'beauty of the historic city.' "Jaipur is a historic city and a tourist destination. The Metro has affected the skyline of the city and thereby its beauty. Usually metros are planned in such a manner that it enhances the beauty of the city but unfortunately that did not happen here. We will see how this can be rectified and the beauty of the city be restored," she told reporters. "This is the only metro that has been fully funded by the state government. We have to quickly commission the next phase so that it becomes financially viable and the state government does not have to subsidize it continuously."
State BJP president Ashok Parnami lauded Raje for the project and said, "During her first term, Raje had placed the city on the world map and she will now take it to new heights yet again. Over the past year she has tirelessly ensured the safety of the line being commissioned today."
However when asked about the safety of the metro system, Raje remained non-committal and said, "I hope the company hired to implement the project must have taken care of the safety and security of the project."
Taking a dig at Raje, Gehlot said, "This day will go down in history of the state. I would like to thank Metro Man E Sreedharan for making this possible. I will not criticize anyone but I hope the metro ride today will convince CM Raje to expedite the other upcoming metro corridors, connecting this line to Chandpole and Phase 2 linking Sitapura to Ambabadi. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi too had enjoyed a metro ride in Delhi and I am hopeful Raje will also be moved by the ride today. Far-sightedness alone can help to prepare
for the increasing population in the city."
The standard guage elevated metro line was approved in August 2010 and construction on the project began in November with a targetted completion of June 2013. The Gehlot government had hoped to be able to flag off the project ahead of the December 2013 assembly elections but the project got delayed inordinately due to disruption in labour supply among other technical issues. Gehlot, however, had held a token flag off of the line when the trial runs began late in 2013 before being voted out of power.
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