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Indian Congress leader slams BJP minister as cracks appear in $487M expressway

Indian Congress leader slams BJP minister as cracks appear in $487M expressway

Lucknow–Kanpur Expressway. (Screengrab: X/@drshamamohd)

ISLAMABAD: National Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress, Dr Shama Mohamed, strongly criticized Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member, while sharing a video on X highlighting cracks and signs of collapse on the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway.


Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath jointly inaugurated the 63-km Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway in Lucknow on July 13, according to Indian media.

The project, completed at a cost of 47 billion Indian rupees ($487 million), is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities from more than two hours to just 40 minutes, according to Indian media.


Congress leader Mohamed said that during the inauguration, Gadkari had said that Uttar Pradesh’s expressways would be on par with those in America.


While criticizing Union Minister Gadkari, she called him "one of the most incompetent ministers in the Modi government."


She further alleged that he "doesn’t know how his own department works."


'Build your own road'

Earlier, according to an Indian media report, Uttar Pradesh minister Dinesh Pratap dismissed the opposition's criticism, made prior to the inauguration of the expressway, over damage to the main artery as "nothing new."


Pratap said that roads break during construction and told the opposition to "build your own road."