The BJP is emphasising PM Narendra Modi’s Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project in its election campaign in Gujarat. The high-speed train on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor, operating at speeds of 320 km/hr and covering a distance of 508 km with 12 stations, has become a point of contention. Critics are questioning the utility and necessity of the train, sparking debate between the BJP and its opponents.
“The Bullet Train will first start from Bilimora (in Navsari) to Surat. It is not a small matter that the country’s first bullet train is happening in our region,” said BJP President of Gujarat CR Patil who represents the Navsari constituency, which is one of the 26 Lok Sabha seats currently occupied by the BJP in Gujarat. Patil had won the 2019 polls with a victory margin of 6.87 lakh votes, the highest in the State.
Speaking at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit recently, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that the 35 km stretch between Surat and Bilimora in Gujarat is expected to be completed, with the bullet train on this segment becoming operational by 2026. The Minister also attributed delays in the project to the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government led by Uddhav Thackeray in Maharashtra.