Hardeep Singh Puri defends Central Vista Project, says Rs 20,000 crore to be spent over several years

Congress want to distract people from monumental governance failures in their states by spreading lies, he said

Defending the Central Vista project, Union Housing and Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the cost of Central Vista is about Rs 20,000 crore, over several years and alleged that Congress is doing cheap politics over it.

Reacting to Congress criticism over the project, the Minister said it was Congress was heading the government in 2012 suggested building new Parliament citing current structure is old.

The Central Vista Project involved building of new Parliament building, remodelling Central Vista Avenue, and Common Central Secretariat by demolishing the existing structure.

Criticising the project, Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted earlier in the day that, "Central Vista is criminal waste. Put people's lives at the Centre-not your blind arrogance to get a new house."

Asking Congress to stop adopting a double standard, Puri tweeted, "Congress & its allies are splurging on a new project reconstructing an MLA hostel in Maharashtra & building a new Legislative Assembly building in Chhattisgarh. If this is fine, what is the problem with Central Vista.?"

Also read: Delhi's heritage trees may be uprooted for new Central Vista project

He said the Centre has allocated nearly twice that amount for vaccination. India’s healthcare budget for just this year was over Rs 3 lakh crore. " We know our priorities," he tweeted.

"Congress doesn’t stop at hypocrisy. Look at their shameful double face. During UPA, Congress leaders wrote about the need for a new parliament. The Speaker in 2012 wrote a letter to Urban Development Ministry for the same. And now they have the gall to oppose the same project?" he added.

"There are hundreds of projects being executed by various depts. Governance hasn’t come to a standstill, unlike the Congress’s times of policy paralysis. Central Vista is just another ongoing project. It’s only the Congress that’s obsessed about it, nobody else," the Minister tweeted.

Moreover, only projects for the new Parliament Building and rejuvenation of Central Vista Avenue have been awarded at an estimated cost of Rs 862 crore & Rs 477 crore respectively till now. As I said, there are many components in the Central Vista project which are spread over several years.

Attacking Congress, Puri said " They want to distract people from monumental governance failures in their states by spreading lies. So they indulge in cheap politics despite knowing this project creates direct & indirect employment for thousands of skilled, semi-skilled & unskilled workers in these times."