LUCKNOW: The heritage city of Lucknow ushered into the Metro era joining the elite club of cities with hi-tech public transport facility here on Tuesday. Around three years after laying the foundation stone, the first stretch was inaugurated by union home minister and Lucknow MP Rajanth Singh joined by UP CM Yogi Adityanath in the presence of state governor Ram Naik.
However, the inauguration of the metro service set off a twitter war on the political turf of UP when former CM and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tried to remind people that it was under his rule that the project took shape.
"Engine to pehle hi chal diya thha, dibbe to aane hi the (Engine had started off earlier, bogies had to follow)" he tweeted with pictures of Metro inauguration.
The SP spokesman dubbed the second inauguration as the onset of politics of ambiguity in UP to mislead people. "We set the ball rolling and gave shape to the project and BJP government is walking away with the credit," he stated. The party had a robust campaign in Tuesday newspapers to credit the SP government for the elite service.
It may be recalled that Akhilesh and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav had flagged off the trial run on the same stretch in December last year, just ahead of the Assembly elections, to showcase it as a signature project of their government and reap its benefit in election. The project was so premhen that it jumped the date (March 26) of its formal run by almost six months.
When Akhilesh inaugurated the incomplete project, BSP chief and former UP CM Mayawati had attacked him and claiming that he rushed with flagging off just to gain the votes.
The tussle among the respective ruling parties to grab credit for the prestigious project had intensified ahead of UP elections. Reiterating that Lucknow Metro was conceptualized by her government in 2008, Mayawati had claimed that all ground work for the metro service was done when she was the CM and added that the SP government's lackadaisical approach had delayed the implementation part of it.
Notably, after coming to power in 2012, Akhilesh government did not take interest in the implementation of metro project as he was exploring other option like Bus Rapid Transport Service (BRTS) and also monorail for the state.
Even during the 2017 UP polls, the BJP made it a major poll plank asking the Akhilesh government why metro trains were not running in Lucknow even after being inaugurated. The former CM had pushed the blame on Centre claiming that it was due to delay in granting clearance from the commissioner, Metro Railway Safety.
Meanwhile, UP CM, during the inauguration ceremony, announced the setting up of Uttar Pradesh Metro Corporation for starting Metro services in various cities of the state, including Allahabad, Kanpur, Agra, Meerut, Varanasi, Moradabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi and other cities.
The CM also urged metroman E Sridharan to be the principal advisor to the proposed umbrella body.
The 8.5-km-long 'Priority Corridor' from Transport Nagar to Charbagh Railway Station, which is part of the Phase 1 of the project, will be operational for the public from 6 am to 10 pm daily.
Over 1500 guests witnessed the chugging in of the Metro train driven by a male and female pilot jointly.