THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Congress MP Rajmohan Unnithan had a heated argument with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the proposed Kanhangad -Kaniyur railway line.
In his address, Rajmohan criticised the state government for identifying Kinaloor in Kozhikode as the destination for the proposed AIIMS and also for not issuing NOC for the railway line project.
According to Rajmohan, the railways was willing to execute the project if the Kerala and Karnataka governments agreed to bear half the project cost. The railways will meet the remaining cost. The railways will approve the project only if Kerala and Karnataka governments issue NOCs, he said.
The chief minister responded that the Karnataka government was not interested in the project. He said he had spoken about the matter with the former Karnataka CM and the latter was not interested.
Rajmohan said he can put pressure on the new Congress government in Karnataka if the CM issues an NOC. To this, the CM reportedly replied whether the NOC should be handed to Unnithan. The MP felt offended and criticised the CM for ridiculing him. The CM did not comment afterwards. According to Rajmohan, the state government should propose three districts for the AIIMS and leave the final choice to the expert team from the centre. He said Kozhikode had sufficient medical facilities including a medical college and Kasaragod lacked a good hospital providing advanced care.