THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister V Abdurahiman on Sunday shot off a letter to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw urging him to drop the move to scrap Palakkad railway division.
In his missive, Abdurahiman, the state minister for railways, said Palakkad division was way ahead in terms of passenger traffic and revenue generated. The decision to scrap the division was part of a conspiracy against Kerala, he said in a statement.
Abdurahiman said the railways has been neglecting the state when it comes to development and sought an end to the neglect towards demands such as doubling of tracks and allotment of new trains.
“During the UPA rule, Salem division was carved out of Palakkad division. Later, there were efforts made to undermine the Palakkad division. The Union government had made attempts to make Palakkad division part of Mangaluru division, but that was thwarted by the state by organising strong protests,” the statement read.
The minister also trained guns on UDF parliamentarians and accused them of doing little in the face of Union government apathy. He also accused Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan of being at the forefront of opposing Kerala’s demand.