Credit war breaks out between Capt govt, Harsimrat

BOTH THE CONG GOVT AND UNION MINISTER HARSIMRAT BADAL SAID THE CENTRE HAD ACCEDED TO THEIR REQUEST

CHANDIGARH : The Capt Amarinder Singh government and Union food processing industries minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Tuesday claimed credit for a new Greenfield Road link to Amritsar from Nakodar via Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib and Khadoor Sahib announced by the Centre as part of Delhiamritsar Expressway.

Both the Congress government and Harsimrat, who belongs to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), said the Centre had acceded to their requests.

A Punjab government spokesperson said the Centre had accepted the CM’S proposal to convert the Punjab stretch of Delhi-amritsar-katra expressway to ‘Greenfield project’, whereas Harsimrat Badal thanked Union highways minister Nitin Gadkari for acceding to her request to amend the alignment of the Delhi-amritsar-katra expressway to create a new direct link between Amritsar and Delhi.

In a release, the Punjab government said the CM had raised the issue with the Centre after local citizens and their representatives expressed concern over the project’s failure to connect the religious and historical towns of Punjab . “During the VC the Union minister told the CM that, after deliberations with the state government officials and examination of all aspects of the proposal, the NHAI approved the alignment of Phase-i of the Delhi–amritsar–katra Expressway with Delhi-gurdaspur section as Greenfield project,” said the spokesperson.

Harsimrat Badal, while terming the decision as a “historic development”, said it had fulfilled a long standing demand of the residents of Amritsar and was also in tune with the original alignment proposed during SAD-BJP tenure.

SHWAIT MALIK ALSO CLAIMS CREDIT

Not to be left behind, BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Amritsar Shwait Malik said that Gadkari has acceded to his request for inclusion of Amritsar in the project. Malik said that with his efforts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gadkari and Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri got this express highway passed in 2016 as he had raised this matter in Parliament three times.