THRISSUR: Former Union minister and senior BJP leader O Rajagopal came down heavily on Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, on Sunday, alleging that his vested interest has delayed the Kochi Metro Project so far.The veteran leader even went on to say that the government’s decision to float global tenders was a cover-up to help one of the Chandy’s close aides embezzle money from the `5000-crore project. “The Kochi Metro Project is not the brainchild of the present government. It was envisaged by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in 2004. The project was modelled after the Delhi Metro, built by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) under the leadership of E Sreedharan. The global tender was part of the Delhi Metro project as well, because the knock-down in terms of cost would be more viable. Now, under the pretext of the same global tender, the Chief Minister is giving implicit sanction to the Public Works Department Minister and an interest group that has links in the Middle East. The intention of the group is not political, but to make money out of the project by appointing Sreedharan only as a consultant and handing over the project to a bidder who supports the interests of the group,” Rajagopal alleged. Though there were initial disputes between the Union Ministry and the State Government on the financial feasibility of the project, finally it was decided that a global tender be invited to cover the cost of the project.“The global tender has already been floated. There are 2 types of tenders: the technical and the price tender. It was very clear that the government is eying the price tender which permits room for siphoning off money,” Rajagopal asserted. According to P K Krishna Kumar, president of the State Railway Passengers Association, Sreedharan’s only demand was to have a team of his own. “There is a reason for this - he handpicks professionals from our country who are not mere bureaucrats but as dedicated as himself,” he said.
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