Congress slams BJP for delay in handing over EWS flats

Party accuses BJP of taking credit for project

Hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over new flats as part of the Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) in-situ slum rehabilitation project in Kalkaji here, the Congress on Wednesday alleged a six-year delay and 68% cost escalation in the construction of 3,024 flats for economically weaker section (EWS) families.

Addressing a press conference, former Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra and Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate credited the Congress and the Sheila Dikshit-led Delhi government for conceiving the project and accused the BJP of taking credit.

Mr. Chopra, who was a member of the DDA, credited former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for the project and claimed that it took him “four years to get all the clearances from 18 different agencies” for the slum rehabilitation plan to come up.

“This is a brainchild of Congress party and Sonia Gandhi. This is what the Congress thinks about the uplift of the poor section of the society,” said Mr. Chopra.

Targeting the Prime Minister, Ms. Shrinate said, “You can see full-page advertisements about the inauguration of the scheme with the beaming face of the Prime Minister. Modiji is fond of ribbon-cutting, but this in situ rehabilitation project was launched by the then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on September 18, 2013”.

The Congress spokesperson said the first phase with 3,024 flats started in 2013 and was scheduled to be completed in 2016.

“The first phase to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister has been completed after a delay of six years and its cost has gone up by 68%. The first phase cost increased from ₹206 crore to ₹345 crore due to the delay,” said Ms. Shrinate, adding that the second phase has not even started when the third phase was supposed to be complete by 2020.