Faridabad-Gurugram, Ballabgarh-Palwal Metro connectivity poll issue again

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, August 31

The Metro rail connectivity between Faridabad and Gurugram and Ballabgarh and Palwal cities has surfaced again as an issue in the ongoing campaign for the state Assembly elections.

“Though leaders of the ruling party have been maintaining a silence and have been harping on other development works taken up in the past 10 years, the Congress is prominently taking up the issue of Metro connectivity,’’ says AK Gaur, a resident of Faridabad.

He adds that as the matter was also highlighted in the recent Lok Sabha poll, it continues to remain fodder for the Opposition as nothing has happened on the ground despite announcements made with much fanfare.

“Thousands of people travel to Gurugram and other parts of the NCR in connection with jobs and business. The lack of smart connectivity with the neighbouring cities can be one of the factors for the slow development of Gurugram city as a commercial hub,” says Rajive Chawla, an industrialist.

Sharda Rathore, a former MLA from Ballabgarh and a probable candidate of the Congress, accuses the state and Central governments of abject failure on this front. He says that Metro connectivity is a vital issue that will help nail the false promises and failures of the BJP government.

“As this concerns a large number of commuters travelling between these cities, the Metro issue will be raised prominently in the ongoing campaign to expose the failure of the double-engine government in the state,” says Neeraj Sharma, Congress MLA and a probable candidate from the NIT segment.