Lucknow: Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Uttar Pradesh assembly and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has asked the government if the “double engines” (state and central governments) were clashing with each other after all.
Speaking on the 2023-24 budget presented by Finance Minister Suresh Khanna last week, Yadav alleged in the assembly Tuesday that while the central government was not allocating any funds for expressways, the ones constructed by the state government were sub-standard.
He further targeted the government over billionaire Gautam Adani’s absence from the 10-12 February investors’ meet in the state and asked the BJP government if it would still be able to construct the Ganga expressway within the timeline now.
He also sought to know why the government could not construct any four-lane road out of the state budget.
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Jibe at double engines
On expressways in the state, Yadav asked if the central government “did not listen to the state” and did not allocate funds for the construction of expressways. “You have double engines in the government…are they clashing with each other?” he asked.
“I think Delhi does not listen to you. If that’s not the case, tell me how much money has the central government given to you for expressways,” he said.
Questioning the government over the quality of expressways being built, Yadav recalled how portions of the Purvanchal and Bundelkhand Expressways had caved in last year.
While four persons were injured after their car got stuck in a portion of the Purvanchal Expressway in October, a portion of the Bundelkhand Expressway had caved in within a week of its inauguration by PM Narendra Modi in Jalaun district following heavy rains in July last year.
‘Dumped your friend industrialist?’
Without taking the name of billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani who did not attend the UP Global Investors Summit last month, Yadav asked the government why its “friend industrialist” did not make it to the meet. Stating that the government’s claim of signing “19,000 MoUs” and attracting “Rs.33.50 lakh crore” investment in the state was all in the air (hawa mein), Yadav asked the government when it would share the ground reality of these MoUs and those signed in the previous investors meet.
Hundreds of industrialists invited to investors’ meet were those who had come in the previous meet (2018) but your friend didn’t come. From number two (Adani was placed 2nd on the Forbes list of richest persons) in the world, where has he reached today? One’s bad times reveal who one’s true friends are. Has the BJP left its friend?” he asked the government.
Yadav was referring to how the Adani Group’s share prices have been slipping since a month in the wake of the Hindenburg report that levelled serious charges against the company, including stock price manipulation and inappropriate use of offshore shell entities in tax havens. The company has denied any wrongdoing.
Ganga E-way
Of the 594-km Ganga Expressway, the Adani Group is to construct the 464 km-stretch from Budaun to Prayagraj. The expressway, the longest in the state, will connect Meerut in western UP with Prayagraj in central-eastern UP and will pass through 12 districts of the state. Yadav wanted to know how the expressway will be built since the government was “no more standing with its friend.”
“Now, when you have left your friend, how will the Finance Minister (Suresh Khanna) come to Lucknow (from Shahjahanpur). Will you be able to do it with the DFBoT (Design, Finance, Build, Operate, Transfer) model you adopted (for the Ganga Expressway that has to be carried out by Adani Group). Do you think the road will be built with this model in the timeline set by you?” he asked.
Recalling the accident on the Purvanchal Expressway, Yadav pointed out that a vehicle had got stuck in the caved-in portion. “What kind of an expressway have you built? It caved in and an entire vehicle went inside? If I had the video, I would show the reality to the world,” he said. “You will not be able to get the expressway constructed because you are not backing your friend any more,” he said.
He suggested that the work of the Ganga Expressway be handed over to the central government or it will never be completed. “What is the model? Will you be able to hold the expressway?” he asked.
No 4-lane roads built
Yadav also said that out of the total Rs 27,470 crore budget allocated to the Public Works Department (PWD) department in the previous year, one of the most important sectors, only Rs 7,570 crore was spent.
Alleging that not a single road had been built from the state budget under the four-lane category, he asked the government to share details of the same.
“I am not talking about the NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) budget. I am asking about the four-lane head in the state budget. If I am not forgetting, not a single road has been made under that category,” he said.
ODOP hoardings hid roadsides
Alleging that the government did not consider the project of widening of roads in Lucknow’s Cantonment and Arjunganj areas, first proposed by his government. Yadav said that the government cut trees and had to conceal the sides of the road to Global Investors Summit venue with One District One Product (ODOP) hoardings.
“This is the double engine government but it would not have needed to cut trees or conceal both sides of the road (towards the venue) if it had considered the (road) widening plan. Our government had proposed a plan of six-lane widening and construction of a cycle track along the Arjunganj road and the Defence ministry had finalised the details. Had you looked at the old plan, you wouldn’t have needed to cut trees or hide the roads with ODOP hoardings,” he said.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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