Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 23 : A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated multiple metro railway projects in Kolkata, BJP leader Dilip Ghosh on Saturday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for not solving the issue of traffic jams while she was holding the portfolio of the Railway Minister.
The BJP leader further claimed that the traffic jams have decreased in Delhi due to the metro network, even though it was started much later than in Kolkata.
"It's been 40-50 years since the metro started in Kolkata, and where has it reached today? When did the Delhi Metro start? The entire metro network has been laid out in Delhi, and because of the metro, the problem of traffic jams in Delhi has been reduced. What has Mamata Banerjee done? She has been Chief Minister for 15 years, and before that, she was the Railway Minister; why hasn't the problem been solved? You will take the credit, but you won't do the work, the public knows everything," Ghosh told ANI.
CM Mamata Banerjee on Friday took to X to share a post detailing her contribution to Kolkata's metro expansion on the same day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Kolkata to flag off new services.
Her post on X read, "Allow me to be a little nostalgic today. As the Railways Minister of India, I was fortunate in planning and sanctioning a series of Metro Railway corridors in metropolitan Kolkata. I had drawn the blueprints, arranged the funds, initiated the works and ensured that the different ends of the city ( Joka, Garia, Airport, Sector V, etc) were connected by an intra-city Metro grid. Later, as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, I had the additional privilege of taking part in the execution of the projects."
"From the State, I arranged free land, paved roads, arranged rehabilitation of displaced people, removed impediments, and ensured all help in the execution of projects. Our Chief Secretaries successively held a series of coordination meetings to ensure the integration of the execution agencies. My planning as Railways Minister got fulfilment in my participation in execution. Expanding Metro infrastructure has been a long journey for me. Allow me some nostalgia today," the West Bengal CM posted.
The Trinamool chief had held the railway portfolio in the NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee between 1999 and 2001, and during the Congress-led UPA-2 from 2009 to 2011.
The Noapara-Jai Hind Bimanbandar metro service will significantly improve access to the airport. The Sealdah-Esplanade metro will reduce the travel time between the two points from nearly 40 minutes to only 11 minutes.
The Beleghata-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay metro section will play a crucial role in enhancing connectivity with the IT hub. These metro routes will connect some of Kolkata's busiest areas, bring a notable reduction in travel time, and strengthen multimodal connectivity, benefiting lakhs of daily commuters.