Fake: PM Modi never said Vajpayee started first metro in India

New Delhi, Dec 31: Many netizens are saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given credit for the first metro service to former prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The claim is that the PM said that the above while inaugurating India's first driverless metro train in Delhi on December 28.

In a post widely shared, it was said that the first metro in the India was started due to the efforts of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, according to PM Modi. But the truth is, the foundation stone for the first metro was laid in Kolkata in 1972 and operated in 1984 under the leadership of Smt Indira Gandhi!!.

OneIndia has found that this claim is fake. During his speech, the PM never used the word country while referring to Vajpayee. PM Modi said that the metro was discussed in Delhi for years. But the first metro ran because of Atal ji, the PM said. The entire speech by the PM can be read here.

This makes it clear that the PM was referring to the Delhi Metro and he never used the word country while speaking about Vajpayee's contribution.

India's first planned and operational metro service was in Kolkata. Former PM Indira Gandhi had laid the foundation stone for the project in 1972. On October 24 1984, the first stretch of the 3.4 kilometre between Esplanade and Bhowonipore was completed and this is the first metro line in India.

On the other hand, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was set up in 1995 and work on the metro began on October 1 1998. It was Vajpayee as PM who put the work on fast track and on December 24 2002, he inaugurated the first section of the metro between Shahdara and Tis Hazari.