Manish Sisodia slams Modi for not inviting Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was not invited to the launch of Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line out of the fear that he might publicly demand a rollback of the fare hike, his deputy Manish Sisodia said.

His comments came minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 12.38-km stretch of the Magenta Line, between the Kalkaji Mandir and Botanical Garden Metro stations, in the presence of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

Mr Sisodia also said that not inviting the chief minister to the inauguration programme at Noida was an “insult” to the people of Delhi.

“Not calling the Delhi chief minister in an inauguration of a Delhi Metro project is an insult of the people of Delhi. There’s only one reason behind not inviting Kejriwal, the fear that he may urge the prime minister to roll back the fare hike (sic),” the deputy chief minister wrote on Twitter.

Of the nine stations on the Magenta Line, seven are within the boundaries of Delhi, while the remaining two are in Noida.

Those who had hiked the Metro fares were “scared” of the AAP supremo, he said. Almost on cue, AAP leaders and volunteers started tweeting with #TakeCreditButReduceFare.

The Metro fares were hiked in May and October. The current fare structure is up to 2 km — Rs 10, 2 to 5 km — Rs 20, 5 to 12 km — Rs 30, 12 to 21 km — Rs 40, 21 to 32 km — Rs 50 and for journeys beyond 32 km — Rs 60.

The Kejriwal government has been at loggerheads with the Centre and DMRC over the recent hike in the metro fares, despite the AAP’s objections.

The chief minister had recently written to Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, seeking a review of the hike in metro fares and reiterated his offer to partially bear the cost of the proposed “claw back”.

When reporters asked Mr Kejriwal for comments on the issue at a Christmas event in the city, he evaded a reply. However, he retweeted Mr Sisodia’s tweets.