Cancellation of PM Modi’s Pune visit sparks political row over metro inauguration
PM Modi's Pune visit was canceled due to heavy rain, delaying the metro stretch inauguration and sparking political tensions between BJP and MVA.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Pune on Thursday called off just hours before due to heavy rain lashing the city Wednesday evening along with forecasts of more rain, inauguration of the much-anticipated Shivajinagar-Swargate metro stretch, too, was cancelled, sparking a political slugfest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
BJP city unit president Dheeraj Ghate defended the decision to delay the inauguration of the metro stretch saying, “It is our honour that the Prime Minister visits Pune for such events. Modi has a tradition of attending both groundbreaking and inauguration ceremonies of key projects. The opposition only knows how to criticise and play politics over such important issues.”
Whereas the MVA led by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress demanded that the metro stretch be opened for public use without further delay. NCP city unit president Prashant Jagtap said, “The metro is for the people. If it is ready, it should be operational. We will inaugurate it ourselves on Friday if necessary.”
Congress city chief Arvind Shinde said, “We will hold protests at the Civil Court station on Friday, demanding the immediate start of operations.”
MVA leaders also criticised the BJP for wasting crores of rupees on organising the PM’s visit. Congress MLA Ravindra Dhangekar said, “Despite the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD’s) warnings, BJP leaders went ahead and wasted crores of rupees on preparing for the PM’s tour which has now been cancelled due to the rains.”
Wednesday’s downpour, measuring 133 mm in just over three hours, was Pune’s highest 24-hour rainfall in September over the past 100 years and broke the previous record of 132 mm rainfall in 1938.
The S P College Ground, where the PM was supposed to address a rally after inauguration of the metro stretch, was heavily waterlogged. Despite efforts by local authorities, the water could not be drained from the site by Thursday morning.
The state government even considered shifting the event to the Ganesh Kala Krida Auditorium but the Special Protection Group (SPG) was reluctant. Eventually, the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD’s) forecast of continued heavy rain prompted the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to cancel his visit.
Following the cancellation, the Pune Metro resumed operations on other routes but the underground stretch between Civil Court and Swargate remained closed.
Meanwhile, the MVA is planning an agitation to press for the opening of the underground corridor and the BJP has assured that the final decision regarding the start of operations on this route will be taken after consultation with the administration.