Monday, May 20

“Corruption Art”: Akhilesh Yadav On Road Collapse In PM Modi’s Varanasi

Edited by Aishwarya Krishnan
"Corruption Art": Akhilesh Yadav On Road Collapse In PM Modi's Varanasi (image-X/yadavakhilesh)

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav criticised the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)-led government, citing rampant corruption as the cause behind a recent infrastructure failure, this time in the heart of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency, Varanasi.

The Samajwadi Party chief shared a video on X (formerly known as Twitter) of a sizeable chunk of a road in Varanasi suddenly caving in, creating a crater measuring approximately 2 metres wide. The collapse occurred in the middle of a busy road, as oncoming traffic manoeuvred around the crater.

Calling it “the road of corruption,” Akhilesh Yadav quipped, “Be thankful that this did not happen during the G-20, otherwise, the BJP government would have had to tell the foreign guests that this is a wonderful example of our ‘corruption art’: Transparent road!”

While accusing the saffron party of corruption, the former UP chief minister stated sarcastically, “The BJP government is saying that we are committed to use bulldozers against those involved in corruption, but what to do, none of the roads built by us are capable of carrying the weight of the bulldozers.” He added, “Corrupt BJP people are saying that there is nothing wrong in our intentions, our work is good.”

A member of the Samajwadi Party, Kuldeep Yadav, pointedly questioned how India could progress towards becoming a developed nation when “this is the condition due to corruption in VIP districts.”

In the past, a portion of the Varanasi flyover collapsed on a busy road in Varanasi in May 2018. The road was being built by Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation Ltd., the state-run corporation, at a cost of Rs 129 crore. Leading to the Varanasi-Allahabad highway, the portion of the road was laid roughly three months ago before it collapsed, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than 20.

Notably, on March 9, Prime Minister Modi visited the city to hold a roadshow days after being made the BJP nominee for the third time for the Lok Sabha seat.