Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) |The Ernakulam-Bengaluru Vande Bharat will have halts at the four textile centres in Tamil Nadu for the benefit of workers and the industry, Vice President C P Radhakrishnan said on Tuesday.
Also, following his request, the Railways has consented to operate a daily train service from Ranchi in Jharkhand to Coimbatore to ensure that the workers reach the workplaces without difficulty, Radhakrishnan said during his maiden visit to the city after becoming the Vice President.
"The Railways has consented to my two requests. Soon the Ernakulam to Bengaluru Vande Bharat train will halt at the four textile centres of Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode and Salem for the benefit of the industry," Radhakrishnan said while addressing a felicitation event organised by the Coimbatore Citizen Forum here.
This service would commence soon, he said, and added that the daily train service from Ranchi to Coimbatore, which will be operational soon, will be a boon to the workers in travelling comfortably.
The Vice President assured his support for expanding the airport here on par with the Bengaluru airport to ensure greater development in the region.
On farmers' demand, he said the sector can be developed if industry was also promoted. "Both are complimentary. Without industrial development, agriculture may not prosper. Tamil Nadu and Coimbatore too will greatly benefit through the Viksit Bharat programme of the Modi-government," he said.
While thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for elevating him as Governor of Jharkhand and as Governor of Telangana and Puducherry, and as Vice President, he said, "I didn't expect this, but it happened." "I won (MP elections) twice but lost three times. Then I got a call from Modi ji. He said, 'I want to send you somewhere'. And I replied, Ji, as you wish. Then, after three days when I was in Tiruppur for a condolence meeting, I received the information that I have been made Governor of Jharkhand. I didn't expect this but it happened," Radhakrishnan said.
He had also served as Maharashtra Governor. "Today, I have assumed charge as Vice President. This shows that efforts are ours but decisions are god's, that's how I see it," he said.
The post of Vice President was not a personal honour for him, but he considered it as "an honour for the entire Tamil community living all over the world, for our land, and for Coimbatore," the Vice President said.
Earlier, upon his arrival from his official visit to the Republic of Seychelles, the Vice President was accorded a warm reception by the state officials and also the BJP and AIADMK members.
"Delighted to arrive in Coimbatore today on my maiden visit to Tamil Nadu after assuming office of Vice President. My heartfelt thanks to the people of Coimbatore for the warm reception," Radhakrishnan later said in a post on ‘X.'
