Ashwini Vaishnaw Invites Mamata Banerjee To Kolkata Metro Inauguration By PM Modi

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has extended an invitation to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to attend the inauguration of three major Kolkata metro projects on August 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to inaugurate the Green, Orange, and Yellow Metro Lines.

The Green Line inauguration will cover the Sealdah-Esplanade section, the Orange Line will include the Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (Ruby Crossing) to Beleghata stretch, and the Yellow Line will span from Noapara to Jai Hind Bimanbandar (airport).

In his letter dated August 14, Vaishnaw wrote, "We kindly invite you to grace the occasion at Jessore Road metro station for the above programme." The Chief Minister or the West Bengal government has not yet confirmed whether she will attend.

While the invitation is official, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has questioned the timing of the inauguration, suggesting that the long-pending projects are being launched with an eye on the assembly elections scheduled early next year. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has blamed the state government for delays in the metro projects, citing land acquisition issues as a major factor.