Lucknow: Contractors “of Gujarat” have prevailed over all major contracts and works across the country and in the state, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai has said, referring to Ahmedabad-based architect Bimal Patel, whose firm was involved with the development of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor project in Varanasi.
In an interview to ThePrint, Rai alleged that the contract for construction of the multi-crore project for which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claims credit, was given to “a company in Gujarat” and that an age-old banyan tree “was cut down” during construction work.
Rai, appointed president of the UP Congress Committee (UPCC) earlier this month, asserted that under his leadership the party’s state unit will expose the lacunae of the BJP-led state government, including the manner in which public representatives including ministers, MPs and MLAs were rendered “useless”.
Asked about his plans to revive the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Rai said that while the party’s vote share in general and state elections was low, its performance in the Varanasi civic polls can be seen as a silver lining.
“In Varanasi, the PM’s constituency, the Congress’s vote share was 16 percent in the municipal polls,” he said, claiming it was “continuously increasing”.
Rai told ThePrint, “Voters remain the same. That’s why I said when the general election happens, the public will remember all the false promises of the BJP. They had spoken about giving employment to two crore people, Rs 15 lakh to each and every person.
“The way the administrative structure is prevailing upon the ministers, MPs and MLAs, and the way they are rendered useless…there is a lot of anger among the public. Our elected public representatives are unable to do any work for us.”
UP Congress chief Rai also said that the party will fight the election from Amethi with its full might, as the people of the constituency are missing their former MP Rahul Gandhi.
“The public of Amethi is missing Rahul Gandhi because he never lied to the people of the constituency, and the Gandhi family has never offered them sugar for Rs 13 kg in exchange of votes. Look at what Smriti Irani is saying. She says that if you vote for BJP, they will give sugar for Rs 13 per kg. This is just an example. How many lies have they spread in the name of jobs, development, work. Now, the public has woken up,” he said.
He further said that people of Amethi like the Gandhis because “they have done what they said and along with that, they have also done what they did not proclaim”.
“Schools, hospitals, factories, colleges. Who gave all these (to Amethi)? It was the Gandhi family. After nearly five years (since 2019 polls), was any new factory opened in Amethi? The factories which were working have been shut. So, the public has now understood false promises (of BJP). So, the public is now missing (Gandhi family),” the five-time MLA said.
He also said that the Congress will contest all 80 parliamentary seats in the state and that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will decide on whether she wants to fight from Varanasi, which is the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Priyanka ji will decide. As state president, I stand with her with our full might, wherever she wants to fight from. If she fights from Varanasi, every single worker will welcome her with full heart and make her win with all our might.”
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‘Local contractor would’ve never cut vat vriksh’
Ajay Rai further alleged that local contractors were given relatively minor projects and, thereby, reduced to petty contractors. “Corrupt contractors of Gujarat are prevailing on all the big contracts and works,” he said. Asked to give an example, Rai said the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor project was given to “a Gujarat company”.
“Who is the contractor? The contractor is from Gujarat. Who is he? The younger brother of the person who built the Sabarmati corridor in Ahmedabad. The elder brother got Padma Shri and the younger got the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor contract,” he said, referring to architect Bimal Patel’s HCP Design, Planning And Management Private Limited.
Besides the Sabarmati Riverfront Development project, the Ahmedabad-based firm also designed and developed the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, the new Parliament building, the BJP’s Delhi headquarters, the Mumbai port complex and IIM-Ahmedabad’s new campus.
The HCP director, who was also involved in the Central Vista revamp project, was awarded the Padma Shri in 2019.
Patel, however, said he doesn’t have a younger brother and the information was fake. “Yes, my company has done (work) the project, but I don’t know what he (Rai) is talking about,” the HCP director said in response to a query about his firm’s involvement in the project.
Meanwhile, Rai further alleged that several small temples were destroyed to build the corridor and the Akshayavat, a hundred-year-old tree seen to hold religious significance in Kashi, was “cut down during the Covid pandemic”.
“There were only three Akshayavats across UP which are among the very few in India. One of them was in Varanasi, another in Prayagraj fort and the third in Bodh Gaya. The vat vriksh of Banaras was chopped down during Covid. This can only be done by a Gujarat contractor. Had there been a Varanasi contractor, he would have never done this because we worship it. Our womenfolk take rounds of the vat vriksh and pray for the long life of their spouse during the vat savitri pooja. Only people from Gujarat can do this. People of Kashi and the followers of Baba Vishwanath cannot do this,” he said.
In April 2021, the Akshayavat of Kashi had collapsed during the construction of the corridor, leading to anger among local priests who accused the administration of not trying to preserve the tree despite repeated requests.
‘Leadership to decide’: Ajay Rai on alliance with BSP
On rumours of the Congress attempting an alliance with the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Rai said the final call rests with the party’s central leadership.
“The central leadership will decide on that issue. If they seek any suggestion, we will give our suggestions to them,” he said, refusing to divulge any more details.
In a statement Friday, Rai had targeted the BJP government in the state over the release of Amarmani Tripathi and his wife according to the state’s 2018 policy on remission.
The former BSP legislator and his wife were serving a life sentence in the 2003 murder of Madhumita Shukla, with whom Tripathi was allegedly in a relationship with at the time.
The BJP, said Rai, was only giving the slogan of Beti Bachao (save the girl child), while “criminals are being cleansed by the washing machine of the BJP”.
(Edited by Tony Rai)