Congress Questions Govt's Ganga Cleaning Efforts Despite Rs 20,000 Cr Expenditure

Congress questions PM Modi's failures in Varanasi, alleging neglect of adopted villages and pollution of Ganga despite extensive funding. The party also accuses Modi of undermining Gandhian legacy by targeting institutions associated with Mahatma Gandhi. In Jharkhand, Congress highlights unfulfilled promises of educational and infrastructure projects, including a medical college, questioning Modi's commitment to the state.

The Congress asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday why has he abandoned the Varanasi villages that were adopted by him and why has the Ganga become dirtier despite the government spending Rs 20,000 crore on cleaning the river.

On a day Modi filed his Lok Sabha poll nomination from Varanasi, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the outgoing prime minister must answer for his ''failures'' in his constituency.

''Today's questions: After spending Rs 20,000 crore, why has the Ganga gotten dirtier? Why has the PM abandoned the Varanasi villages he had ''adopted''? Why is the PM determined to destroy Mahatma Gandhi's legacy in Varanasi?'' Ramesh asked in a post on X.

The Congress leader said when Modi went to Varanasi in 2014, he had said ''Maa Ganga ne mujhe bulaya hain'' and promised to purify the waters of the holy river, but soon after coming to power, he re-branded the existing Operation Ganga as Namami Gange.

''Ten years later, the 'Namami Gange' project has cost the exchequer more than Rs 20,000 crore. Here are the results: the number of polluted river stretches has increased from 51 to 66, 71 per cent of monitoring stations have reported dangerous bacteria at up to 40 times more than safe levels, and antibiotic resistant bacteria have now been found in the waters.

''Where has the 20,000 crore in taxpayer money gone? How much has been siphoned off in corruption and mismanagement? How can the people of Varanasi trust a man who has given a jumla even to Ma Ganga?'' Ramesh asked.

He said there are eight villages outside the city of Varanasi that the prime minister had ''adopted'', but a March 2024 ground report found out that despite big promises of ''smart schools'', health facilities and housing, the villages have seen absolutely no progress in 10 years.

Domri village has almost no pucca housing, Ramesh said, adding that Nagepur village has extremely shoddy roads.

Dalit communities in Jogapur and Jayapur have no toilets and no water, and the flagship Nal Se Jal scheme seems to have missed Parampur village entirely, he claimed.

''The condition of Mr Modi's adopted villages tells us a lot about his sense of duty, or lack thereof, towards serving his constituents. Why has the PM abandoned his 'adopted' villages? Is this the true face of 'Modi ki guarantee'?'' the Congress leader asked.

He also alleged that ''it is well known that the outgoing PM's ideology is that of Godse, not Gandhi''.

''He has taken his malicious hatred of the Father of our Nation to the extent of destroying the Sarwa Sewa Sangh, started by Acharya Vinobha Bhave, and associated with personalities like Dr Rajendra Prasad, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Jayaprakash Narayan,'' Ramesh said, adding that the organisation was rendering extraordinary public service to the country since 1955.

''It had been operating on 13 acres of land, close to the Varanasi railway station, for which it had full possession papers. It was evicted from its iconic campus in August 2023, and the land was taken over by the Indian Railways. Only one corner of the campus, occupied by the Gandhi Vidya Sansthan, remains untouched because it had already been captured by the RSS.

''Why does the PM persist in his hypocrisy of praising Gandhiji abroad, while destroying Gandhian institutions at home? Can he openly admit his admiration for Godse over Gandhi?'' Ramesh asked.

Later, in another post on the microblogging platform, the former Union minister posed a set of questions for Modi during his visit to Jharkhand.

''Where are the engineering colleges that PM Modi had promised in 2014? What happened to the medical college in Koderma? Why has the BJP stopped providing status updates on the long-delayed Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor?'' he asked.

Ramesh said during his campaign for the 2014 Jharkhand Assembly polls, Modi had promised a range of industrial and educational projects for the state, including a premier information technology institute and several engineering colleges. However, only two institutes were established -- NIELET, Ranchi and CIPET, Khunti -- he said.

''These institutions too, after 9 and 7 years of operation respectively, do not have a permanent campus. The UPA government, on the other hand, established high-quality institutions like IIM, Ranchi and a central university. Why has the outgoing PM failed to deliver the institutions he had promised ten years ago?'' Ramesh asked.

He said the prime minister has repeatedly promised to build a medical college in Koderma but the project is yet to materialise. The college was supposed to be built on around 70 acres of land and offer 100 MBBS seats. Modi laid its foundation stone six years ago in 2018 and then promised to complete the project again in 2019, Ramesh said.

''Does the PM ever intend to keep his promise or is this just another 'Modi ki Guarantee' from the Bharatiya Jumla Party?'' he asked.

The Congress leader said former rail minister Piyush Goyal had promised the completion of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor by August 15, 2022, but the project is still incomplete. It has disappeared from the websites of the DFCCIL as well as the railway ministry, he claimed. ''Almost two years after the promised deadline, is the BJP now trying to hide its failure to complete this project?'' Ramesh asked.