THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With both the Congress-led UDF and the BJP-led NDA adamantly opposing his pet project K-Rail, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has chosen to go out to the people in order to gain their trust. However,  Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is adamant that his pet project K-Rail will move on, and he is preparing to speak with an invited audience about it.

Kerala Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal, who is struggling to fulfil the state's bills since the state coffers are nearly empty and the state is relying on borrowed funds, spoke Vijayan's language in Delhi on Thursday.

With the K-Rail project, we are moving forward. We shall explain why this is necessary for our state. "All my fears would be dispelled," Balagopal said. It will create a 529.45 km corridor connecting Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod, and a high-speed train will be able to travel this distance in around four hours. While Vijayan claims it will cost around Rs 64,000 crore, a preliminary examination by Niti Aayog estimates it will cost in excess of Rs one lakh crore.

The BJP has already slammed the project, with Metroman E. Sreedharan describing it as an idiotic proposal, while the Congress-led UDF claims it is nothing more than a project to pocket commission for the CPI-M. The Congress-led UDF also exposed the double standard by releasing a tweet from CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechuri, who vehemently opposed a similar project, the Mumabi-Ahmedabad bullet train.

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