'Highway to Hell': Congress attacks BJP over CAG reports on ballooning road project costs

The Congress's attack on the BJP government comes following a CAG report that found that the cost of the Dwarka Expressway increased 14-fold, from Rs 528.8 crore to Rs 7,287.2 crore.

Armed with CAG reports that “exposed the sheer corruption and incompetence” in road projects, the Congress on Monday trained its guns on the Narendra Modi-led government, claiming that the BJP dispensation was taking the nation on a ride along the “Highway to Hell” and asked whether the Prime Minister will take action against Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari over ballooning costs of road projects.

The attack on Modi and his government came days after the tabling of audit reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in Parliament, which pointed out irregularities in the Bharatmala projects, toll collection and the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. The Congress asked whether Modi would break his silence on corruption in his Independence Day speech on Tuesday.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged, "BJP's corruption and loot is taking the nation on a highway to hell." He said the CAG had pointed out “innumerable, non-compliance of outcome parameters, clear violation of tender bidding process and huge funding mismanagement”.

“Pradhan Mantri-ji, you need to look within, before you harp about Corruption against your opponents, because you are overseeing it yourself. In 2024, I.N.D.I.A will make your government accountable,” he tweeted.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh alleged that 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” while asking whether Modi will “have the courage to question his own government and his ministers”.

Ramesh said in a statement, even a “defanged” central auditor has been able to “expose the sheer corruption and incompetence of the Modi government”. Will the Prime Minister take action against the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways? he asked.

Kharge said there was a “whopping 1,278% increase” in developing Dwarka Expressway where the cost of the project initially estimated at Rs 528.8 crore rose to Rs 7,287.2 crore.

On his part, Ramesh also referred to the “inflated” project cost of the Dwarka Expressway, which went up 14 times from the sanctioned Rs 18 crore/km to Rs 250 crore/km, as well as the diversion of funds to the tune of Rs 3,598.52 crore from escrow accounts. “Will the Prime Minister take responsibility for this incompetence and corruption in the Bharatmala projects under his direct watch?” Ramesh said.

“We demand answers from the Prime Minister, Chuppi Todiye (break your silence), Pradhan Mantri-ji,” he said.

On “violations” of toll rules, he said the National Highway Authorities of India (NHA) has “wrongly collected” Rs 132.05 crore from commuters in just five randomly audited toll plazas.

“At the same time, NHAI lost revenue of Rs 133.36 crore due to lack of provision for revenue sharing in concession agreements in two sections of NH projects. If this audit were extrapolated to the whole country, the overall loss to the exchequer and the commuters would amount to lakhs of crores. Will the Prime Minister take action against the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways?” he asked.

On the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, he referred to the CAG report which said 88,760 patients had died during treatment and yet, 2,14,923 claims were shown as paid in respect of ‘fresh treatments’ given to these dead ‘patients’.

“Other than that, 7.5 lakh recipients were linked to a single mobile number and 4,761 registrations made against seven Aadhar numbers. In total there are more than 1.24 crore fake beneficiaries linked to only 1,86,855 mobile numbers. Will the Prime Minister order an investigation on who were the real beneficiaries of this massive Digital India scam in Ayushman Bharat?” he said.

“CAG has raised similar questions on irregularities in the Ayodhya Development Project and the diversion of old page pension funds under National Social Assistance Programme for publicity of the Modi government’s schemes instead,” he said.