New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 25 (IANS): On a day of fast-paced developments, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed happiness after his long meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital on the K-Rail project on Thursday, though the Congress in Kerala seems to be smelling a rat.
"The meeting with the PM was excellent. He gave us a patient hearing and the response was encouraging. Overall, it was a positive feeling and we expect the Centre will give us the sanction for our K-Rail project," said Vijayan.
The Chief Minister also dismissed the protests going on in the southern state against the K-Rail project as "stage managed".
"We know that the people are with us, as our track record speaks of our development agenda for the state. People believe us and the protests going on in the state are scripted. We assure the people that the ongoing survey is being done for social impact assessment, and not for land acquisition.
"Once the survey ends, then only a decision would be taken on land acquisition, and when it's done, we will invite the people losing their land and inform them on what they will be getting. We will not harm a single person," said Vijayan, as he thanked Modi for giving him the time to discuss the matter.
Explaining the financing of the project, Vijayan said its cost will come to Rs 63,941 crore, of which Rs 33,700 crore will come from various financial institutions, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Asian Development Bank, to name a few.
The Rs 13,362 crore funds for the proposed cost of acquisition of land will come from HUDCO, KIIFB and state government, while the balance after loans from the funding agencies will come from the Railways -- Rs 3,125 crore -- Rs 3,253 crore will come from the state government and Rs 4,252 crore form the public, said Vijayan.
Minutes before the meeting began, protesting Kerala Congress MPs were allegedly roughed up by the Delhi police inside the Parliament.
As the news trickled in, numerous protests were witnessed across the state with angry Congress workers clashing with the state police.
At a few places, the local people were seen protesting against the K-Rail officials who had come to lay the marking stones for the project.
Meanwhile, reacting to Vijayan's meeting with Modi, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan said that for the past one week, hectic preparations were going on for this meeting at the highest level among the Sangh Parivar forces, as there seems to be some sort of "unholy alliance" between the BJP and the CPI-M.
"The proposal submitted for this project is misleading and the figures are all fudged so as to present a rosy picture. Vijayan is deceiving the people of Kerala by painting a rosy picture about the project. We want answers to the questions which we have raised about this project. We will not allow this project to go forward as this will bring untold miseries to the state as it's not a feasible one," said Satheesan.
If completed, the K-Rail project will see a 529.45 km corridor connecting Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod with semi high-speed trains covering the distance in around four hours.