Congress says PM ignores continuity on Kashmir rail

The Congress on Friday said the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL) is a powerful example of continuity in governance which it claimed is "consistently denied" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his "perennial desire for self-glory".

The opposition party's assertion came just ahead of Prime Minister Modi inaugurating the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL). Stretching 272 km through the rugged Himalayas, the project has been built at a cost of Rs 43,780 crore.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said governance involves great continuity, "a fact consistently denied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his perennial desire for self-glory".

This is especially true when it comes to the implementation of extraordinarily challenging developmental projects, he said in a statement.

The USBRL was initially sanctioned in March 1995 when P V Narasimha Rao was Prime Minister, Ramesh said.

"In March 2002, it was declared as a national project when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister. Subsequently, on April 13, 2005, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh inaugurated the 53 km rail link between Jammu and Udhampur," he said.

Ramesh further pointed out that on October 11, 2008 Prime Minister Singh inaugurated the 66 km rail link between Anantnag and Mazhom outside Srinagar.

On February 14, 2009, Prime Minister Singh inaugurated the 31 km rail link between Mazhom outside Srinagar and Baramulla, he said.

"On October 29, 2009, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh inaugurated the 18 km rail link between Anantnag and Qazigund. On June 26, 2013, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh inaugurated the 11 km Qazigund to Banihal rail link," he said.

This meant that by June 26, 2013 the 135 km rail link between Baramulla and Qazigund had become operational, Ramesh added.

The inauguration of the 25 km rail link between Udhampur and Katra had to be put off because of the election code of conduct for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he pointed out.

It was inaugurated by the new Prime Minister on July 4, 2014, 39 days after he had taken over, Ramesh said.

He further pointed out that since 2014, the 111 km Katra-Banihal stretch, for which major contracts had been awarded much earlier, has been completed.

For instance, contracts for the iconic Chenab Bridge had been awarded by 2005 itself to the Konkan Railway Corporation, Afcons, VSK India, and Ultra Construction and Engineering Ltd of South Korea, Ramesh said.

"The Indian National Congress greets the people of Jammu and Kashmir on this important occasion. It also congratulates the personnel of the Indian Railways, and the public sector and private companies involved in the execution of the USBRL over the past three decades," the AICC general secretary said.

It reflects a collective resolve and success in the face of the gravest of odds, Ramesh added.

Posting his statement on X, the Congress leader said, "As the PM visits J&K today, here is our statement on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL) that, like Brahmos, is a powerful example of continuity in governance which he never acknowledges but cannot run away from." Tagging Ramesh's post, Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha said, "A statesman always acknowledges the past as he plans the future. History can never be obliterated." Even people who wish to rewrite history will realise that history is etched in the walls of posterity, Tankha said.