This story is from October 26, 2017

BJP, Congress try to score brownie points over Bidar-Kalaburagi railway project

BJP, Congress try to score brownie points over Bidar-Kalaburagi railway project
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the long-delayed project on October 29.
BENGALURU: The long-awaited Bidar-Kalaburagi railway line project, which is all set to chug off after a delay of 17 years, is now mired in a controversy: the Congress and BJP have locked horns over taking credit for the project.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to inaugurate the project on October 29, the state BJP unit has been accused of hijacking the event to portray it as the party’s major contribution to Hyderabad-Karnatak region.
Congressmen allege that their tallest leaders, including party veteran in the Lok Sabha and Kalaburagi MP Mallikarjun M Kharge and chief minister Siddaramaiah, have not been invited for the inaugural function because of political reasons. Congress leaders have charged the BJP with trying to use railway line to woo voters in Hyderabad-Karnatak region ahead of 2018 assembly polls.
The 104-km railway line project was mooted in 1999-2000 during A B Vajpayee’s prime ministership and Rs 369.70 crore had been sanctioned in 2003 for the same; the project was to be partly funded by the state government. The proposed line was envisaged to connect Bidar and Kalaburagi and also reduce the distance between Bengaluru and other North Indian cities by around 300km. But work progressed at a tardy pace because of land acquisition hurdles and official apathy. The project was put on fast track when Kharge became the railway minister in UPA-II regime.
Speaking to TOI, Congress MLA Vijay Singh said: “The BJP government is now trying to make it a party function. Till date, no invitation has been extended to Kharge or Siddaramaiah despite the fact that the state government has contributed financially to the project. I don’t think the BJP will be able to score brownie points with the railway project as people of the region know who was instrumental in getting the project going.”
“The BJP did nothing much for the project except initiating it. It was the Congress-led UPA that cleared hurdles pertaining to land acquisition and expedited work. The BJP is attempting to play mind games to drum up support in the run up to the polls,” said another Congress leader.
BJP leaders have, however, spiked the Congress’ allegations. Bidar MP (BJP) Bhagavanta Khuba said the Congress had put the project into cold storage and it was actually the Modi government that worked towards making it operational. “The Congress is now trying to camouflage its lapses by politicizing the issue,” another BJP leader said.
Earlier, Prakash Javadekar, Union HRD minister and BJP in-charge of Karnataka, had questioned Kharge’s contributions as a railway minister to Hyderabad-Karnatak. Javadekar had stated: “Kharge has been boasting about his achievements, but the reality is that only Rs 511 crore has been spent on the railway line project before the Modi government came to power. However, in the last three years, around Rs 711 crore has been spent on the project and it has been readied for inauguration.”
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