Union Minister says Kerala govt 'misleading' people about centre's approval for SilverLine project

Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Saturday slammed the Kerala government over the SilverLine rail project and said the state government is lying and misleading people with regard to Centre's approval for the SilverLine rail project.

"Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is trying to mislead the people of Kerala. Government of India has made it clear both on the floor of the house and court of law that Central government has not given any type of approval except that they have been asked to submit the Detailed Project Report," said Muraleedharan.

The Minister further alleged that the Kerala government is lying by claiming that the central government has given some sort of permission to the project.

"Kerala government is saying that we have the government of India's approval only to hoodwink the people of Kerala. Nothing beyond that. The state government should stop lying to the people, should stop misleading the people and should stop spreading such blatant lies," he said.

Minister's statement comes after the Central government's submission in the High Court of Kerala that the Kerala government has not been provided with any approval for proceeding with the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) or stone laying in the private lands for the SilverLine semi-high-speed rail project.

After hearing all arguments, a single bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran reserved its judgment on a batch of petitions seeking to stop the stone laying procedures by the state government regarding the project.

Bharatiya Janata Party took a dig at the Communist Party of India over their Prime Ministerial candidate as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Stalin is attending a CPM's national conference (Congress) in Kerala's Kannur.

"I would like to know who is their (CPM) Prime Ministerial candidate? Because their General Secretary has said that Stalin is the best Chief Minister of the country. Let them announce that also. Then we will come to know how they are going to take forward the so-called third alternative (front)," said Muraleedharan.

The 529-km SilverLine railway project will link Thiruvananthapuram in the south to Kasaragod in north Kerala, covering 11 districts through 11 stations. The journey between two stations is expected to take four hours, whereas it currently takes 12 hours.

The project is also being opposed by Congress-led UDF, which has been alleging that it is "unscientific and impractical" and will put a huge financial burden on the state.

( With inputs from ANI )