BJP gets the better of LDF, PM to open Kollam bypass

Kollam: The Kollam bypass has become a bone of contention between the political parties as far as its inauguration is concerned.

The state government had announced a week ago that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate it on February 2. But in a coup of sorts, the BJP said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will do it on January 15.

However, CPM MLAs M. Mukesh, M. Naushad and N. Vijayan Pillai claimed on Tuesday that the government had not received any official communication about the prime minister’s programme.

N.K. Premachandran, MP said in a press note that the Prime Minister’s office had confirmed that he will inaugurate it at 5.30 pm on January 15. He will reach Kollam by air, it was informed.

The MLAs said that the completion of the decades-old bypass is the achievement of the Left government.

“It will be strange if the prime minister inaugurates the road without being invited by the government,” they added.

They pointed out that the LDF governments have contributed to the development of the bypass.

The construction started while CPM’s P. Rajendran was the MP and the third phase gained momentum after the Pinarayi Vijayan government came to power in 2016.

The work was completed fast due to the intervention of ministers J. Mercykkutty Amma and G. Sudhakaran, they
said.

The UDF had earlier alleged that the state government was delaying the inauguration in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP alleges that the state government was trying to take credit for it while it was done with the help of the central government. Hence, the party wanted to steal the thunder from the LDF government by bringing Mr Modi to inaugurate it.

The '352-crore road spans across 13 km connecting Kavanadu and Mevaram on NH-66 bypassing the Kollam city.