'Metro man' to share stage with Modi

A day after the Kerala government’s intervention, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Thursday said that ‘Metro man’ E Sreedharan has been included on the list of dignitaries who will share the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Kochi Metro inauguration on June 17.

This puts an end to the controversy over the non-inclusion of DMRC principal adviser Sreedharan, popularly known as Metro man, on the list of dignitaries sharing the dais with the prime minister.

Information in this regard was received at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office on Thursday, an official release said. The PMO has also agreed to include the name of Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, among those to be present on the stage, it said.

The PMO’s intervention comes in the wake of the chief secretary writing to it on Wednesday. A controversy had erupted in the state as Sreedharan, who was associated with the project from the very beginning, was not on the list of dignitaries who would share the stage with Modi for the inaugural function.

Sreedharan sought to downplay the controversy and said there was nothing unusual about not being invited as such restrictions are usual in programmes attended by the prime minister.