Ganga Expressway a dead end for Mayawati

The most ambitious project announced by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati,the Ganga Expressway,failed to impress voters...

The most ambitious project announced by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati,the Ganga Expressway,failed to impress voters even though it came along with a promise of development to the remotest parts of east UP. Of the 17districts through which the Expressway is supposed to pass,the BSP could win only two seats.

Mayawati laid the foundation stone for the Rs 30,000-crore 1,047-km Ganga Expressway joining Ballia in the far east of the state to Greater Noida on January 15,2008. It was said to reduce the journey from Ballia to Delhi to less than eight hours and there were claims that the project would bring in huge investments in the hinterland.

As per the latest alignment report of JAL,which was assigned the project,the Expressway is to pass through Ballia,Ghazipur,Varanasi,Mirzapur,Allahabad,Pratapgarh,Rae Bareli,Unnao,Kanpur,Hardoi,Shahjahanpur,Farrukhabad,Etah,Badaun,Aligarh,Bulandshahr and Gautambudhnagar (Greater Noida). The BSP could win Gautambudhnagar and Aligarh. One reason why the Ganga Expressway failed to win admirers was that there has been little work on the project. Even land acquisition is incomplete. Sources in the Government said the project was deliberately put on hold to avoid farmers agitations over land acquisition as over 62,000 hectares will be required. The Government has already faced strong agitation of farmers during the acquisition of land for the Yamuna Expressway. Incidentally,the SP and the BJP,had been raising the issue of floods and displacement of farmers. ENS

Banka pride is JD(U)s loss

Story continues below this ad

PATNA: Banka is one parliamentary constituency where Chief Minister Nitish Kumars magic did not work. Instead,it was all about Digvijay Singh,the JD(U) rebel,winning the battle of egos. Digvijay,who had represented the seat twice,had a clear edge of JD(U) candidate Damodar Rawat. He succeeded in invoking hurt Banka pride and attracted big crowds.

The JD(U),meanwhile,erred in making light of Digvijays challenge against the growing stature of Nitish Kumar. Party spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari had said before election results,JD (U) has a fight with RJD,not with Digvijay. But the result proved JD(U) calculations wrong. Independent candidate Singh won comprehensively by 28,716 votes over RJDs Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav. Digvijay told The Indian Express: I had won from there twice and had nothing to prove to anyone. When I contested as an Independent,I wanted to know where I stood. Digvijay has extended support to the UPA and there is talk that he stands a good chance of getting a ministerial berth.