India, Nov. 15 -- Congress and BJP trade allegations over financial contributions to Bengaluru's expanding metro network.

Even as commuters in South Bengaluru celebrated the launch of the long-awaited 7.5-kilometre elevated stretch of Namma Metro's Pink Line on November 13th, a dispute over financial credit had overshadowed the milestone. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar shared the dais and even rode the newly inaugurated train together from Tavarekere to IIM-Bangalore, yet the camaraderie inside the inaugural Metro train was in sharp contrast to a war of words between the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over who truly funded the project.

The controversy erupted in...