Thiruvananthapuram: It seems that the announcement of 400 semi-high-speed, intercity "Vande Bharat" trains in the Union Budget has made Congress leader and MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor to have a rethink on continuing his support to the SilverLine Project to build a north-south rail corridor connecting both ends of Kerala from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram.
In a social media post, Tharoor said that it was essential to study whether "Vande Bharat" Express would act as an alternative to the SilverLine Project of the Kerala Government.
Earlier, Tharoor had landed in a controversy as he took a stand in favour of the SilverLine Project by ignoring the Congress party's strong stance against the project.
Congress leaders, including Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran, criticised him strongly for taking a view that is quite opposite to the party's stand.
A section of the State party also urged the Central leaders to take action against Tharoor for his pro-SilverLine stand.
Opposition Leader in the Assembly VD Satheeshan on Tuesday urged the State Government to withdraw the Project in view of the announcement of "Vande Bharat" trains in the Union Budget. BJP State president K Surendran also raised the same demand.
Full text of Tharoor's post
"In today's Union Budget, what is striking for Kerala is the announcement of 400 Vande Bharat trains with a speed of 180 km per hour. Both the Central and State Governments should study whether this project is cost-effective and energy-efficient compared to the SilverLine announced in Kerala.
If Kerala gets the service of Vande Bharat trains, it will meet the demand put up by the State Government for a speedy transport line from the one side of the State to the other side, and a solution to the concerns raised by the Opposition about the financial burden, land acquisition concerns and the environmental issues arising out of the SilverLine Project."
