“The UP government doesn’t want the state to develop,” Gandhi alleged as he dedicated the new Centralised Stamping Unit of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) at Jagadishpur in Amethi. “It has been obstructing efforts to set up industries in Amethi,” Rahul said.
The Congress leader, who has been on a three-day visit to his Lok Sabha constituency, said the state government has refused to allocate land for a Rs 3000-crore paper mill project in Amethi.
“The land is there and the farmers are also ready to give it. Yet, the UP government says there is no land in the area,” Rahul alleged.
“The Centre is not planning to take the land for free. It is ready to pay for the land and is also ready to give employment to one member from the family that has given the land. The project would benefit 25,000 people, but the state government is not cooperating,” he said.
Farmers can also gain from the project by cultivating eucalyptus trees, which would be used as paper pulp, Rahul said.
Union minister for heavy industries and public enterprise Vilasrao Deshmukh, who was present on the occasion, said he had written to the state government regarding the land allocation but no action has been taken.
He said the foundation stone for the project will be laid within a week from having the land, reiterating Rahul's message that the state government is standing in the way of development.
Rahul’s criticism comes within days after Mayawati alleged that the Centre had given a step-motherly treatment to Uttar Pradesh, by holding back funds for developmental projects.
The Congress leader has been quite vocal in his criticism of the state government, never hesitating to point out its failures in dealing with the power crises and the alleged irregularities in implementing central schemes like National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi also expressed her concerns about the alleged irregularities in National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, when she visited her Lok Sabha constituency of Rae Bareli recently.