Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has not been invited to the inauguration ceremony of Delhi Metro Magenta Line by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 December.

The Magenta Line will connect Botanical Garden in Noida to South Delhi’s Kalkaji Mandir, the government said on Saturday.

Locking horns with the Centre and the Delhi Metro since the fare hike, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office denied receiving any invitation of the inauguration ceremony.

“We have no official intimation of the programme. Our top most priority is a safe Metro for the passengers and at a reasonable price. So far as the inauguration is concerned we haven’t received any invitation. The question must better be put to the DMRC and Urban Development Ministry,” a Delhi government spokesperson.

One of the stakeholders in the fare hike proposal committee, the Delhi government has opposed Delhi Metro fare-hike and has even offered to pay half the yearly cost of Metro operations.

This is the third metro line to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister in 2017.

Earlier, PM Modi had dedicated the Kochi Metro to the nation in June, and the Hyderabad Metro in November.

As on both those occasions, the Prime Minister will travel on a stretch of this new line, before arriving at the venue of the public meeting.

Narendra Modi has often used the metro to travel for engagements in the National Capital Region (NCR).

In January 2016, PM Modi, and the then French President Francois Hollande travelled from Delhi to Gurgaon, to jointly lay the foundation stone of the Headquarters of the International Solar Alliance.

More recently, in April 2017, the Prime Minister, and the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull travelled by metro to the Akshardham Temple.

In keeping with the objective of enhancing connectivity through mass rapid transit systems, the Union Government has launched nine metro projects covering a stretch of nearly 165 kilometers over the past three and a half years.

Five new Metro Rail Projects covering a total length of over 140 kilometers have been approved. Metro Lines of around 250 kilometer length are proposed to be commissioned over the next two years.

(With agency inputs)