In September, Vaishnaw had said that the plan had been stalled because Pawar had opposed it, and that Mumbaikars needed to come together, form an opinion, and demand the AC locals they wanted
NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said his party's opposition was to the enhanced fare structure and not to the idea of AC locals.
The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Monday challenged Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to implement the air-conditioned (AC) local train plan for Mumbai and asked him to stop blaming Pawar senior over the issue.
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"Railway Minister Mr Ashwini Vaishnaw must walk the talk. A fake narrative was created in the name of (party chief) Mr Sharad Pawar, when asked why Mumbai’s AC local train plans were stranded. Will he implement the plans now as BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) has the mandate in Maharashtra? Or [will he] find another excuse," NCP (SP) national spokesperson Clyde Crasto said.
Crasto's statements come in response to mid-day's front page article in the Monday edition which stated how the plan to convert all the locals in Mumbai into AC trains might now gather momentum.
In September, when questioned about the AC local train plan for Mumbai, Vaishnaw had told mid-day that the project had been stalled because Pawar had opposed it, and that Mumbaikars needed to come together, form an opinion, and demand the AC locals they wanted.
The NCP (SP) spokesman said his party's opposition was to the enhanced fare structure and not to the idea of AC locals and that the party was fighting for Mumbai's commuters. "The fares of AC trains is more than the regular local trains, which is not acceptable to the commuters. We are representing commuters and fighting for them," he said.
“Ashwini Vaishnaw is the Union Railway Minister. If he wishes, he can implement the project. Why is he blaming Mr Pawar and giving excuses for not doing his own job? If he thinks any project is for the welfare of the people, he should go ahead and implement it,” Crasto said.
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