Nitish Kumar Didn't Attend Vande Bharat Event Despite Invitation: Union Minister

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off nine Vande Bharat Express trains including one in Bihar, Union Minister of State (MoS) Ashwini Choubey on Sunday lashed out at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, adding that despite giving the invitation, he did not come.

"Several ministers of the state (Bihar) did not come despite the invitation by the Railways. They are jealous of the country and state's development. The Chief Minister (CM Nitish Kumar) did not come despite the invitation. This is a matter of shame for Bihar," Mr Choubey said. 

Earlier in the day, PM Modi flagged off the Patna-Howrah Vande Bharat Express through video-conferencing on Sunday.

"25 Vande Bharat Express trains are already running, now nine more have been added," he added. 

PM Modi virtually flagged off nine Vande Bharat Express trains, and said that the speed and scale of infrastructure development are matching with aspirations of 140 crore Indians.

"The speed and scale of infrastructure development are matching with the aspirations of 140 crore Indians. Today people of Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat will get the facility of Vande Bharat Express trains. These new Vande Bharat Express trains depict the new energy of the country," PM Modi said while speaking at the launch of new trains.

PM Modi said that 25 Vande Bharat Express trains are already running, now nine more will be added to them.

"The popularity of Vande Bharat trains is constantly rising. Over 1,11,00,000 crore passengers have already travelled on them," he added.

The launch of these trains will connect religious and tourist destinations across 11 these states, a PMO statement said earlier.

The new trains are Udaipur – Jaipur Vande Bharat Express, Tirunelveli-Madurai- Chennai Vande Bharat Express, Hyderabad –Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express, Vijayawada – Chennai (via Renigunta) Vande Bharat Express, Patna – Howrah Vande Bharat Express, Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram Vande Bharat Express, Rourkela - Bhubaneswar – Puri Vande Bharat Express, Ranchi – Howrah Vande Bharat Express and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express.

The introduction of these Vande Bharat trains will herald a new standard of rail service in the country. These trains, equipped with world-class amenities and advanced safety features, including Kavach technology, will be a key step towards providing modern, speedy and comfortable means of travel to common people, professionals, businessmen, student community and tourists," the PMO statement added.

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