Eye on Assembly poll, BJP leaders go on stone-laying, inauguration spree

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, August 6

Ruling party leaders and elected representatives have been on a kind of spree to lay the foundation stone or inauguration of various projects of civic infrastructure in their respective constituencies, perhaps to ensure a positive impact regarding their performance as the state Assembly elections are round the corner. Faridabad and Palwal districts have nine Assembly segments.

Bias in allocation of funds: Cong MLA

Charging the state government with discrimination, Congress MLA from NIT Assembly constituency Neeraj Sharma has claimed while funds have been released for the segments of the ruling party MLAs, funds for his constituency have been held up or delayed with an eye on the impact in the election.

Though there is no official record of the list of works done this year, the activity connected with the laying of foundation stone or inauguration of the civic facilities had seen a surge in the past about two months, claim sources in the district administration.

“As the activity got halted between April and the first week of June in the wake of the Lok Sabha elections, leaders of the ruling party resumed it soon after the poll results as they had been left with less than three months to improve upon the lists of the works or performance that could decide their fate in the upcoming elections,” says a political analyst here.

He further says laying the foundation stone of roads, streets, community centres, water and sewage lines, parks, bridges and flyovers are among the projects that had been given attention. Agencies carrying out the projects like Delhi-Mumbai Expressway corridor in Faridabad, Manjhawali bridge over the Yamuna to connect Faridabad and Greater Noida have been asked to ensure their inauguration prior to the polls, it learned.

Meetings with officials to direct them to speed up the pace of development work are also being held regularly. Functions held in various Assembly segments, especially those of the ruling party leaders, have also been given wide publicity. The district public relations department has also been carrying out regular programmes in rural pockets regarding the government schemes, according to the sources.

Cabinet Minister Mool Chand Sharma, who laid the foundation stone of 3-km-long elevated flyover over Mohna road in Ballabgarh worth Rs 158 crore, said there was no dearth of funds for development projects, and this had been a part of the regular drive that had been on since the BJP government came to power in 2014. Claimed as his pet project, Sharma has been able to get it started before the Assembly elections despite the hurdles, said a political activist.

However, Charging the state government with discrimination, Congress MLA from NIT segment Neeraj Sharma claims while funds have been released for the segments of the ruling party MLAs, funds for his constituency have been held up or delayed with an eye on the impact in the election.