Vaishnaw’s remark that he has ‘very little interest in development’ angered Kerala minister

India: Kerala Minister V Abdurahiman disputed claims made by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw that the state had ‘very little interest in development’ on Sunday and charged him of turning a blind eye to the neglect the southern state is experiencing.

Additionally, Abdurahiman instructed Vaishnaw to tell the leaders of his own party in Kerala not to block the state’s development efforts.

‘The Union Minister should advise his own party leaders in Kerala who are at the forefront of halting development in the state.’

‘It was a contest between the BJP and UDF to stop the survey for K-Rail. Everyone knows that there is a Union Minister of State from Kerala who consistently obstructs the progress of state-level development initiatives,’ he said.

When Vaishnaw was questioned about long-delayed projects like the Sabarimala Rail in Kerala during a news conference in New Delhi on Sunday, he claimed it was a peculiar case because the state administration has very little interest in development.

‘That is why, even for small things like surveys or preparing detailed project reports, we find so much resistance that it’s really difficult to do any work. Even then, the Centre is committed to the development of the rail network in Kerala,’ the Union minister said.

In a statement, Abdurahiman urged Vaishnaw to explain the problems hampering the Sabarimala rail project.

‘That project was approved in 1997, and the state government had even agreed to bear half the cost,’ he claimed, alleging that the Union minister was ignoring the neglect that the state was experiencing.

The state’s railway minister, Abdurahiman, said that the Vande Bharat was handed to the southern state after taking into account all other states and that Kerala was given old, shaky carriages.

Vaishnav has alleged that ‘the political class of Kerala created a totally imaginary narrative that the Vande Bharat train will not be given to the state.’

‘But you see, Vande Bharat has been given to every state which has an electrified broad gauge network. We believe that the entire country should grow simultaneously but we need the support of state governments,’ the Union railway minister said.

The Palakkad coach factory, a railway zone, the Nemom terminal, and doubling the Alappuzha line are among the long-overdue railway development demands made by Kerala, according to Abdurahiman, who also claimed that these projects are currently in cold storage.