BJP plans to move breach of privilege notice over Pawar’s ride in Pune Metro

THE BJP will move a breach of privilege notice against the Pune Metro Rail Authority during the next Assembly session for conducting the project trial run with NCP president Sharad Pawar alone, allegedly ignoring elected local representatives, state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said on Monday.

On Monday, Pawar inspected the work of the Metro rail project for the Pune Chinchwad Municipal Corporation- Swargate corridor. The NCP chief travelled on a stretch of seven km between Pimpri-Chinchwad and Phugewadi, Metro rail authorities confirmed.

After completing the inspection run, Pawar said, “I inspected the Metro rail project. The work on Pimpri Chinchwad to Phugewadi line has been completed under the Pune Metro Rail project. The coaches are 65 per cent India-made, with state-of-the-art use of solar energy.”

However, the BJP alleged the NCP was trying to take the credit for the mega project. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Patil said, “Sharad Pawar is a member of the Rajya Sabha. The Metro Rail Authorities took the trial run with just one NCP leader, Pawar, which is questionable. All the local MLAs and corporation leaders, who have played a significant role in the project, were not invited. This is highly inappropriate.”

“The Pune Metro Rail Project made no headway during Pawar’s tenure of 15 years in Maharashtra and 10 years at the Centre. He never pursued the project — either as the chief minister or an Union minister in the UPA government.”

It was then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who got the long-pending Pune Metro project on track and it was Fadnavis who got all the clearances from various Union ministries and got the project started,
said Patil.

The Pune Metro project costs Rs 11,000 crore, including the Centre’s share of Rs 8,000 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to inaugurate the first phase of the Pune

Metro rail project but that had to be deferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic.