The Congress on Sunday shared on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) a video of waterlogging at the newly constructed Bharat Mandapam, the venue for the G-20 Summit, and said it exposed the “hollow development” under the Modi government.
In the video, people are seen walking in a waterlogged corridor.
“Hollow development exposed. Bharat Mandapam was prepared for G-20. ₹2,700 crore was spent. It was lost in one rain...,” the Congress said in its post.
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Party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate spoke in the same vein. “Efforts are underway to remove water with machines. Rains are also part of the international anti-national conspiracy,” she said while sharing the video on X. “Who are these corrupt people who stole so much money and did such shoddy work,” she asked.
Addressing a rally in Niwai in poll-bound Rajasthan’s Tonk district, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the waterlogging. “Perhaps what the people of our country are not able to say due to fear, God has said: Reduce your ego, this country has made you a leader, put it first and make the people supreme,” she said.
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Party spokesperson Pawan Khera also targeted the government. “I vividly remember the criticism our governments - both State and central - faced due to waterlogging in the basements of the flats of CWG Village 15 days before the event. “The Bharat Mandapam gets flooded in the middle of a ‘G-20 India 2023’ event, but not a squeak in the media,” he said. “Modi ji, you didn’t learn from us how to govern India, but we must learn from you how to manage the media,” Mr. Khera said.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said, “In the “Bharat Mandapam”, built at a cost of about ₹3000 crore, today “development” was seen floating even in the slightest rain.” Taking to X, he said he prays to God that it doesn’t rain much during the day and the G-20 Summit gets completed safely.
"The Modi government has covered the poor with a curtain but no amount of showmanship can cover up its misdeeds. Anyway, in the Modi government, nothing lasts after events and inaugurations," Mr. Surjewala said in Hindi.
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Sharing the video of the Bharat Mandapam, Indian Youth Congress chief B.V. Srinivas said “development is swimming”.
The G-20 Summit began at the Bharat Mandapam on Saturday and will conclude on Sunday.
