Title - ECoR ‘snub’ invites flak

A section of politicians has flayed the East Coast Railway (ECoR) authorities for not inviting them for the inauguration of Bhawanipatna railway station and flagging off function of Bhawanipatna-Bhubaneswar Link Express on Saturday.

In the invitation card, although the names of Bhawanipatna and Junagarh MLAs were mentioned as guests of honour, that of Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh representing Narla Assembly segment, Sibaji Majhi of Lanjigarh Assembly segment (both from the Congress) and former minister and MLA from Koksara Assembly segment Puspendra Singhdeo of BJD were missing.

The train was flagged off by Kalahandi Lok Sabha member Bhakta Das. Although ECoR officials and Singh declined comment on the issue, the BJD district wing has taken strong exception to the alleged snub.

In a memorandum to the Divisional Railway Manager, Sambalpur, the party came down heavily on ECoR for not inviting former ministers Singhdeo and Balabhadra Majhi.

They also alleged that the train, flagged off on Saturday, is just a link of   Hirakhand Express and not a direct train to Bhubaneswar, a long-standing demand.

They also demanded early commissioning of Bhawanipatna-Junagarh portion of Lanjigarh Road-Junagarh rail line.