Kerala will soon get a new Vande Bharat Express train from the Centre. While an official announcement in this regard is yet to be made, the Kerala leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make a big announcement when he visits the state later this month.
He described it as “Vishu Kaineettam” on behalf of the Center and the Prime Minister for the people of the state. As per tradition, the elders of the family will give gifts, especially money, to the members of the household in the form of “Kaineettam” on the day of the harvest festival “Vishu” on April 15, Saturday, this year.
The arrival of the coaches of this train from Chennai at Palakkad this morning created curiosity among the local people and BJP workers thronged the station to welcome them. Railway officials of the train were garlanded by BJP workers on the occasion and sweets were distributed among them.
An excited elderly man told reporters at Palakkad railway station, “I am very happy to see that express train coaches like ‘Vande Bharat’ are coming to my state. I am in my late 70s, and I am very happy to know that I can soon travel on an express train in Kerala.
Union minister V. Muraleedharan and BJP’s Kerala unit president K. Surendran said the new Vande Bharat Express is “Vishu Kaineettam” by Prime Minister Modi for the people of the state. In a Facebook post, Surendran also criticized his political opponents.
“Those who were making fun of (us) about Vande Bharat are now lamenting that they were not informed about its arrival,” he said.
He also said that it is childish to allege that the prestigious train is being introduced in the state only in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Sharing similar sentiments, Muraleedharan said that the Prime Minister has now responded to those who raised doubts over the introduction of ‘Vande Bharat Express’ in Kerala, and thanked Modi and the Railways Minister for giving it to Kerala. Thanked
He also dismissed allegations of a political agenda behind giving the train to the state and said the Prime Minister had made such announcements before his visits as well.
Lok Sabha member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) A. M. Arif and United Democratic Front (UDF) MP N. Of. Premachandran welcomed the unexpected delivery of the Vande Bharat Express to Kerala, but said it cannot be seen as a sign of special importance shown to Kerala by the Modi government.
Arif said that the traffic problem in Kerala cannot be solved by the arrival of one train. Rejecting BJP leaders’ claim that the train would be the prime minister’s gift to the people of the state, Premachandran said there was no need to do any politics in this and the new train has been allotted to Kerala just like many others. given to other states.
V Abdurrahiman, the minister in charge of railway affairs in the state, said that he would respond in this regard only when the state government gets official information in this regard.
