Kharge: BJP’s ‘corruption, loot’ taking nation on highway to hell, alleges Mallikarjun Kharge | India News

NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday referred to a CAG report and alleged “BJP’s corruption and loot” in the Dwarka Expressway of Bharatmala Project.

In a post on social media platform X, Kharge posted a card which said, “Rs 18 crore per km to Rs 250 crore per km, CAG flags ‘very high’ project cost of Dwarka Expressway. 1278% – the percentage increase in the cost of the project.”
The Congress president alleged that the “BJP’s corruption and loot” are taking the nation on a “Highway to Hell”.

He said, “In a scathing report against the Narendra Modi government, CAG has pointed that Bharatmala Pariyojana is being built with innumerable deficiencies, non-compliance of outcome parameters, clear violation of tender bidding process and huge funding mismanagement.”
Kharge alleged that one of the stark examples of the fraud, in this scheme, is the Dwarka Expressway. “CAG has exposed that the cost of this project was originally estimated at Rs 528.8 crore but later zoomed to Rs 7287.2 crore – a whopping 1278% increase!!”
He said the 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.
The Congress president alleged that lane configurations of Dwarka Expressway were determined without analysing the development of nearby competing infrastructure and construction was done with suboptimal specifications.
Addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kharge said, “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.”

Congress Rajya Sabha MP and media head also attacked PM Modi over the CAG report. Releasing a statement in a post on X, he said, “Tomorrow, the Prime Minister will unleash his torrent of lies from the ramparts of the Red Fort for one last time, taking off from his tsunami of lies to the nation in the Parliament last week. But will he have the courage to question his own government and his ministers on their corruption and incompetence?”
He further said, “Our statement on the series of reports tabled in the Parliament by the CAG. Even a defanged CAG has been able to expose the sheer corruption and incompetence of the Modi government. Chuppi Todiye Pradhan Mantri-ji (Break you silence Mr Prime Minister)!”

The Bharatmala Pariyojana or Project is a new umbrella programme for the highways sector that focuses on optimising efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps through effective interventions like development of economic corridors, inter corridors and feeder routes, national corridor efficiency improvement, border and international connectivity roads, coastal and port connectivity roads and green-field expressways.
The announcement of the mammoth scheme was made by Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari in the presence of PM Modi. The implementation of a pan-nation scheme to improve the road network was the idea of the PM.