The Kerala government has decided to postpone the launch of Kochi metro project from May 30 to a date that suits the Prime Minister.
The Pinarayi Vijayan government will now await the Prime Minister's return from Europe to have him inaugurate the project.
The postponement comes after the BJP criticised the government of deliberately choosing a date of inauguration that collided with Narendra Modi's Europe visit, said a report by the Hindustan Times.
“If someone suspects that it is a deliberate attempt to avoid the Prime Minister, they can’t be blamed. It is sad that the government decided on a date clashing with the foreign tour, which was announced much in advance,” BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan is reported to have said.
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Earlier, State tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran had announced that chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan would inaugurate the project on May 30 to mark the first anniversary of the LDF government.
Now, however, the government will be launching the much awaited project only when the PM provides them with a suitable date.
"We haven’t decided on the inauguration, and are awaiting a date from the Prime Minister,” the report has quoted chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan as saying.
The Kochi metro project is a much anticipated venture of the state.
The CPI(M) which has ever been in loggerheads with the BJP government has said that the LDF has invited the Prime Minister to inaugurate the project so that he can see for himself the development made by Kerala, which he once compared with one of the least developed nations Somalia
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"We want the prime minister to see that development has also been made in Kerala, the state which he had compared with Somalia. So we have invited him to dedicate the Kochi Metro to the nation," CPI-M state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said.
PM Modi at an assembly election rally last year had compared Kerala, which is ranked first in Human Development Index in India, to Somalia, one of the least developed nations.
"The unemployment rate in Kerala is at least three-times higher than the national average. Infant mortality rate among the scheduled tribe community in Kerala is worse than Somalia," Modi had said.
