Modi to inaugurate new Metro line in Delhi, Kejriwal not invited

— Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a segment of the newly-built Magenta Line of Delhi Metro on Monday which will connect Botanical Garden in Noida to South Delhi’s Kalkaji Mandir, the government said on Saturday.

Modi will also address public at the inauguration, which will happen at the Botanical Garden Metro Station. Locking horns with the Centre and the Delhi Metro since the fare hike, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office denied receiving any invitation of the inauguration ceremony.

“We have no official intimation of the programme. Our top most priority is a safe Metro for the passengers and at a reasonable price. So far as the inauguration is concerned we haven’t received any invitation. The question must better be put to the DMRC and Urban Development Ministry,” a Delhi government spokesperson said.

One of the stakeholders in the fare hike proposal committee, the Delhi government has opposed the move and has even offered to pay half the yearly cost of Metro operations. “This is the third Metro line to be inaugurated by the PM in 2017. He had earlier dedicated the Kochi Metro to the nation in June, and the Hyderabad Metro in November. As on both those occasions, the PM will travel on a stretch of this new line, before arriving at the venue of the public meeting,” a statement said. —