Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national executive member P.K. Krishnadas on Friday said the Centre was weighing a second Vande Bharat Express for Kerala.
The outgoing chairman of the Railway Passengers Amenities Committee told The Hindu that Kerala had a solid social and economic case for a second Vande Bharat train.
Mr. Krishnadas said the Vande Bharat Express that traversed through Kerala was a big revenue earner compared to similar trains operating in other regions. The train occupancy rate was high on most days. Moreover, Kerala was an urban continuum and a second train would better serve the State’s travelling public.
Mr. Krishnadas said he had met Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and presented Kerala’s case for a second Vande Bharat. “The Minister promised to consider the request favourably,” he said.
Mr. Krishnadas said he saw no hurdles to a second such train for Kerala. He said he had, as chairman, inspected 700 railway stations and ensured that at least 26 met airport standards regarding passenger amenities. “The list of modernised stations is growing fast,” he said.
He said there was a tacit understanding between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress to disadvantage the BJP. The ruling front and the Opposition were merely shadowboxing to propagandise that they were political rivals. “I challenge the CPI(M) and the Congress to field a common candidate against the BJP instead of pretending facetiously to be rivals when, in fact, they are allies and bedfellows,” he said.
Mr. Krishnadas said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stayed away from the Opposition party conclave in Bengaluru as part of the beguiling political act. He said Opposition unity against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls was a chimaera and an airy dream that would never come to pass.
“That Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress would be part of the Congress coalition to defeat the BJP is a quixotic idea. It will remain stillborn,” he said.
