Congress accuses Nitin Gadkari of 'altering facts' on Bharuch bridge

NEW DELHI: The Congress today accused Nitin Gadkari of "altering facts" during his speech to inaugurate a bridge in Bharuch and said he seems to be influenced by the Prime Minister's "track record of relying on half truths".

In a letter to Gadkari, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said he heard the Union minister's speech at the inaugural function of the new extradosed bridge today and was "shocked at your brazen attempt to mislead the people of Gujarat in the presence of the Prime Minister".

In his speech, Gadkari said that after taking charge of the Surface Transport Minister in May, 2014, he terminated a previous contract to build the bridge due to non-performance and issued a fresh tender at a significantly lower price.

"I am sorry to state, this claim of yours is divorced from the truth.

He expressed hope that the Minister would issue a clarification on the matter to "set the record straight".

"We are all guided by a sense of duty towards the people, and this aim should not be distracted by any political agenda," he said.

The senior Congress leader further said the previous tender to build the bridge on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis was awarded to Hindustan Construction in 2012.

The contract was terminated and fresh tender issued on engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) basis in 2013, he said.

He claimed that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs under the then prime minister Manmohan Singh cleared the project on an EPC basis on December 28, 2013, with an allocation of Rs 503.16 crore.

Subsequently, he said, on February 25, 2014, the L&T signed the agreement at a far lower price of Rs 379 crore and construction began on March 3, 2014 during the UPA government.

Patel said he had written to Gadkari on January 20, 2015 and the Minister wrote back on March 17, that construction work on the bridge began on March 3, 2015.

The Congress leader sought a clarification over the dates.

"I had requested your clarification through my letter of March 18, 2015, if the construction was indeed start date was indeed March 3, 2014, and your letter had a typological error. Strangely I have not received any reply till date," he said.

He said he is "disappointed by altering of facts".

"I have always held you (Gadkari) in high esteem and hence I am disappointed by your altering of facts to suit a political agenda. The Prime Minister's rich track record of relying on half truths seems to have had a profound influence on you," he said in the letter.