Metro launch: PMO agrees to have E Sreedharan on stage

Kochi: "Metro man" E Sreedharan and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala will be among the dignitaries on the dais during the inauguration of the Kochi Metro on Saturday, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The office of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who wrote to the Prime Minister's Office Wednesday asking it to allow Sreedharan to be on stage with PM Modi, on Thursday tweeted that the PMO has agreed with the request.

Earlier the day, while talking to the media after inspecting a newly constructed metro station in the city, Sreedharan, Principal Advisor to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), had said he wasn’t disappointed over not sharing the dais with the PM during the inauguration ceremony, and added that the security of the Prime Minister was paramount.

“Don’t make it into controversy. The security of the Prime Minister is more important. We must follow what the security agency says. I am not at all disappointed,” he had said.

After the ‘exclusion’ invited criticism from all the quarters, the State government wrote to the PMO and urged it to reconsider the decision.

The state government had given a list of 17 people who it wanted to share the dais with the Prime Minister. The list included Sreedharan, Chennithala, Thomas and Chief Secretary Nailin Netto, among others.

However, as per the PMO’s release Governor P. Sathasivam, Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala’s Transport Minister Thomas Chandy, local MP K.V. Thomas, and Kochi Mayor Soumini Jain will be attending the event.

Besides them, Prime Minister Modi and Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu would address the function, it had informed.