Title - Chandy calls Sreedharan for talks

Discussion scheduled for Wednesday Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has called ‘metro man’ E. Sreedharan for a discussion on Wednesday in the context of a fresh round of controversy over the latter’s role in the proposed Kochi metro rail project.Sources in the government on Sunday said the Chief Minister contacted Mr. Sreedharan, former managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), and the two of them agreed to sit down for a discussion on Wednesday. The purpose of the meeting was to dispel the impression that the State government was not sincere in carrying out its decision to have the Kochi metro rail project executed on a fast-tract mode under the leadership of E. Sreedharan, with the involvement of DMRC.

Fresh misgivings came about when CPI(M) MP P. Rajeev, on Saturday, released to the press copies of a letter written by the former Managing Director of Kochi Metro Rail Ltd. (KMRL) Tom Jose to the Union Urban Development Secretary Sudhir Krishna on September 26. In that letter, written after his leaving the KMRL, Mr. Jose had sought a clarification whether the works proposed by Mr. Sreedharan in Kerala had the support of the director board of the DMRC. Mr. Jose is now the Principal Secretary for Public Works in Kerala.

This letter, read along with the decision of the board of directors of KMRL on Friday to wait for the DMRC’s consent at the level of its board of directors before deciding on handing over the project to the DMRC team led by Mr. Sreedharan, had given rise to the allegation that a move was afoot to scuttle the idea.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala, on Sunday, shot off a letter to Union Minister for Urban Development Kamal Nath, urging him to take immediate steps to get the DMRC involved in the Kochi metro rail project. He also informed the Union Minister that both the State government and people wanted Mr. Sreedharan’s and DMRC’s total involvement in this dream project.

Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, in reply to questions from journalists on the sidelines of a function here, said the government would investigate why Mr. Jose wrote such a letter to the Union Secretary.

Deputy leader of the Opposition Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said Mr. Jose would not have written such a letter to the Union Urban Development Secretary without the knowledge of the Chief Minister. He said this was a hide-and-seek game, with the government adopting one posture in the public and the ruling front leaders and officials working behind the scene to ensure that the scope for corruption offered by such a big project was not wasted.

Bharatiya Janata Party State unit president V. Muraleedharan urged the Chief Minister to dismiss from his Cabinet the Minister who was protecting Mr. Jose.