By IANS
Bhopal : A railway line for which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone in Madhya Pradesh Friday is already shrouded in controversy as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader claimed that the project’s foundation had been laid 15 years ago.
BJP MP and former union minister Sumitra Mahajan of Indore said that the Dahod-Indore-Godhra rail line had been included in the rail budget of the then railway minister, the late Madhavrao Scindia.
Thereafter, former railway minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated the Indore-Maxi section of this rail line Jan 31, 2003 when he flagged off a passenger train on this route, she said in a statement.
Mahajan said the foundation laying ceremony that took place Friday went against the dignity of the prime minister’s chair.
The fact is that with increased budgetary demand, the project was once again sent before the Planning Commission for approval, which came in 2007-08, she pointed out.
“The prime minister has been kept in the dark and the Indore-Dahod rail project has been projected as a new project,” she alleged.
Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone for two new railway lines linking Gujarat with the backward Dhar and Jhabua districts of Madhya Pradesh.
The two rail projects are estimated to cost Rs.12.86 billion. While the 200-km-long Dahod-Indore via Jhabua line would cost Rs.6.78 billion, the 152-km-long Chhota Udepur-Dhar line is expected to cost Rs.6.08 billion. Both projects are to be completed in six years.
Minister of State for Agriculture Kantilal Bhuria, who was present at Friday’s ceremony, said: “The BJP leaders are talking rubbish because they can’t digest the development of tribal land and want tribals to remain backward”.