Lucknow: Citing news reports claiming that the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway has given way at multiple points a day before its inauguration, Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said these incidents show how corruption connects this Rs 4,700 crore project to the Rs 6,700 crore “Missing Link project” of Mumbai.The Mumbai-Pune Expressway ‘Missing’ Link, one of Maharashtra’s most ambitious infrastructure projects, suffered its first major setback days after its inauguration recently after a landslide triggered by incessant monsoon rain blocked the Pune-to-Mumbai carriageway, forcing authorities to shut the route and divert traffic.“Under the BJP govt here (in Lucknow) Rs 4,700 crore Lucknow-Kanpur expressway gave way before the inauguration while there (in Maharashtra) under the BJP govt, Rs 6,700-crore ‘Missing Link’ became infamous world over after it became inaccessible weeks after its inauguration,” Akhilesh said, adding that “what connects the two projects together is corruption”.“It seems a competition is on among the BJP-governed states as to who would beat the rest in corruption. Were the two projects designed by the Lucknow people,” Akhilesh asked, adding that the irony of the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway was that it would take less time to cover the expressway between two districts as compared to the time that would go in steering through the traffic bottlenecks that one would encounter while entering the two cities.“Travelling on the expressway will take less time and entering the city to reach the destination will take more,” Akhilesh said.The SP chief said people were wondering if the expressway projects were designed to facilitate people travelling between the two cities or to help “BJP contractors” pocket profits.“If corruption results in such situations, people will think 40 times before embarking on a 40-minute journey,” Akhilesh said, adding that any facility was meaningless if safety was not assured.‘New voter form confirms SIR was NRC’Times News NetworkLucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said that the amended new voter registration form confirmed his apprehension that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was actually National Register for Citizens (NRC) exercise.All through the SIR, Akhilesh maintained that the exercise was actually NRC that the BJP govt at the Centre was getting done through the Election Commission of India (ECI).A fresh row erupted after the registration form for new voters introduced a column where the applicant is required to mention SIR details of his or her parents.“This is how the govt has turned SIR into NRC. This means that around 27 lakh voters who could not make it through the SIR to the electoral rolls before the polls, their children will not be eligible to register as new voters? The same will apply in UP and other states as well,” an SP spokesperson said.
