Taking jibes at the ‘inefficacy’ of erstwhile non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments in Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after inaugurating the Pune Metro Rail on Sunday, said while foundation stones of projects were used to be laid before in Pune, no one could know when they would be operational.
Mr. Modi’s day-long visit, ahead of the crucial Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic body polls likely next month, commenced with the PM unveiling a 9.5–ft. tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) premises, thereby being only the second Indian Premier after Jawaharlal Nehru to visit the PMC since 1961.
He then inaugurated a 12–km stretch of the 32.2–km Pune Metro Rail Project, which is being built at a projected cost of ₹11,400 crore and travelled 5 km on one of the lines.
