PM ditches motorcade, takes Metro to launch Ambedkar memorial
NEWDELHI:Prime Minister Narendra Modi ditched his motorcade to travel in the national capital’s lifeline, the Delhi Metro, to reach a public event in north Delhi on Friday.
Modi took a ride during the peak evening passenger hours on the Yellow Line to reach 26, Alipur Road, where he was scheduled to inaugurate the Dr Ambedkar National Memorial.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said that the PM boarded the Metro train from the Lok Kalyan Marg station near his residence at 5.41pm and alighted at the Vidhan Sabha Metro station after 20 minutes—covering 11 stations on the way.
He later took the Metro back from Vidhan Sabha at 7.47pm and reached the Lok Kalyan Marg station at 8.06 pm, the Metro said.
Though the ride seemed impromptu, Modi’s travel plan was decided in advance so that the security of the PM and the convenience of commuters was not compromised. “During his travel, services were running as per normal schedule on Line-2 (Huda City Cente-Samaypur Badli), including for the train in which the PM was travelling,” a Metro spokesperson said. The DMRC said that the station was not sanitised, and as per usual protocol and PM Modi had his personal security detail accompanying him. The Metro said that the exercise was fairly easy because the footfall at the Lok Kalyan Marg Metro station is not very high. “The PM and the officials travelling with him bought tokens just like regular passengers,” the spokesperson said.
While travelling, Modi was also seen interacting with fellow passengers and taking selfies with the star-struck crowd.