Modi govt's 'corruption' in infra projects taking nation on 'highway to hell': Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused the Modi government of corruption in infrastructure projects and said it is “taking the nation on a highway to hell”.

Citing a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India report on the ‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’ highway projects, Kharge said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should look within before harping on corruption by his political opponents. “BJP’s corruption and loot is (are) taking the nation on a highway to hell,” Kharge said on Twitter, citing the CAG report.

In a scathing report against the Modi government, he said, the CAG has pointed out that ‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’ is being built with “innumerable deficiencies, non-compliance of outcome parameters, clear violation of tender bidding process and huge funding mismanagement”.

One of the stark examples of the “fraud” in this scheme is the Dwarka Expressway, said the Congress chief. Kharge said the CAG has exposed that the “cost of this project was originally estimated at Rs 528.8 crore but later zoomed to Rs 7,287.2 crore -- a whopping 1,278 per cent increase”.

“Dwarka Expressway was appraised and approved without any detailed project report. The planned toll rates shall hinder the recovery of capital cost of the project and result in undue financial burden on commuters,” he said.

Further, citing the report, the Congress leader said the ILane configurations of the Dwarka Expressway were determined without analysing the development of nearby competing infrastructure and the construction was done with suboptimal specifications.

“Pradhan Mantri ji, you need to look within, before you harp about corruption against your opponents, because you are overseeing it yourself. In 2024, INDIA will make your government accountable,” Kharge said.

(With agency inputs)