Kashmir rail link example of continuity in governance, says Congress

As the Kashmir rail link was inaugurated today, the opposition Congress said the project was an example of continuity which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not acknowledge but cannot run away from.

In a statement, AICC general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said, “Governance involves great continuity, a fact consistently denied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his perennial desire for self-glory. This is especially true when it comes to implementation of extraordinarily challenging developmental projects.”

Ramesh traced the history of the 272-km long Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL), which was initially sanctioned in March 1995, when PV Narasimha Rao of the Congress was the prime minister.

In March 2002, it was declared a national project when Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the BJP was Prime Minister.

Ramesh said on April 13, 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the 53-km rail link between Jammu and Udhampur, and on October 11, 2008, he inaugurated the 66-km link between Anantnag and Srinagar.

“Later, between February 14, 2009, and June 26, 2013, Manmohan Singh inaugurated 31-km rail link between Mazhom outside Srinagar and Baramulla; 18-km rail link between Anantnag and Qazigund, and 11-km Qazigund to Banihal rail link. This meant that by June 26, 2013, the 135-km rail link between Baramulla and Qazigund had become operational,” Ramesh said.

The Congress leader said the inauguration of the 25-km rail link between Udhampur and Katra had to be put off because of the code of conduct for the 2014 Lok Sabha poll.

“It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 4, 2014, 39 days after he had taken over. Since 2014, the 111-km Katra-Banihal stretch, for which major contracts had been awarded much earlier, has been completed. Contracts for the iconic bridge had been awarded by 2005 itself,” Ramesh said, greeting the people of Jammu and Kashmir on the important occasion and flagging a collective resolve of governments in the face of grave odds.