The inauguration of Purvanchal Expressway by Prime minister Narendra Modi in Sultanpur on Tuesday sparked off a war of words between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party, with both parties taking credit for conceiving and constructing the project.
Ahead of the inauguration of the expressway, SP president Akhilesh Yadav targeted the BJP, alleging that the ruling party was trying to steal the credit of development work done during the SP regime.
Taking to Twitter, Akhilesh mocked the current ruling dispensation at the Centre and in the state for making every attempt to "snatch the credit" for the work started by the Samajwadi Party.
"The ribbon came from Lucknow and the scissors came from New Delhi. There is a 'khicham-khichai' to take credit for the work done during the SP regime. It is hoped that till now the people of Lucknow sitting alone must have memorised the length of the 'Samajwadi Purvanchal Expressway'. Samajwadi Party workers will shower flowers as a mark of protest against the inauguration by people with prejudiced minds," tweeted the SP chief in Hindi.
As a mark of protest, Samajwadi Party workers formally cut the red ribbon at Ghazipur where the Purvanchal Expressway terminates.
The 341-kilometre-long Purvanchal Expressway is one of the biggest infrastructure projects completed by the Yogi government. The highway costing Rs 22,500 crore has been billed as “carrier development’ to the underdeveloped eastern UP.