Kochi Metro: E Sreedharan will be included in the inauguration by Narendra Modi

Thiruvananthapuram: after a widespread criticism, "Metro Man" E Sreedharan was invited to the inauguration of Kochi Metro Saturday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announced Thursday.

The Prime Minister (PMO) invited both Sreedharan and opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala to share Minister Kaiskampally Surendran and BJP State President Kummanem Rajasekheran.

After being clear on Wednesday that Sreedharan was not among the guests to be with Modi on the Dais, Kerala's chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, wrote to the PMO.

But the request to include the local legislator PT Thomas on the Dais was not accepted.

Modi will arrive on Saturday morning at Kochi International Airport and will be driven to Pathadipalam Station to catch a train from Kochi to Palarivattom, six kilometers away.

From there, he will drive to the international Jawaharlal Nehru stadium to officially launch the first Kerala metro by addressing a public meeting.

He will return to Delhi after a brief interview with the firm Kerala led by Vijayan.

In the 25-kilometer Kochi metro project, trains will run 13 kilometers between Palarivattom and Aluva from 19 June.

Work on Kochi Metro began in 2012 after the Oommen Chandy government entrusted the project to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, with its senior advisor Sreedharan overseeing it.