Samruddhi expressway has become road to corruption: Congress

The Congress today said the Mumbai-Nagpur expressway, which was supposed to usher in development in the state has now become a road to corruption for the ruling BJP government in Maharashtra.
"We had expected that the BJP's slogan of 'Sabka saath sabka vikaas' will finally materialise with this expressway. But the state government is only interested in 'Kuch ka saath, kuch ka vikaas'.
"Through large-scale irregularities in the process of land acquisition, it is clear that this expressway has become the road to corruption for the BJP," Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Sachin Sawant said.
He was speaking to reporters here, after a Congress delegation met MSRDC officials to seek a response from them on alleged corruption in the tender process and the controversial land acquisition process for the Mumbai-Nagpur expressway.

Sawant said that while the Chief Minister publically says that MSRDC takes decisions regarding the tender process but after the government made changes in the bidding terms and conditions, there was no response by the state to letters written by the agency after the change.
"The tender process has been done against the wishes of MSRDC. The whole process is full of doubts and financial irregularities," he said.
"Also, it has been widely reported that many government officials have bought land on this expressway. There has been no inquiry conducted in any of those dealings till now," Sawant said.
"Also, the land acquisition process has been conducted by flouting many rules. This project has become a way of acquiring prosperity for the BJP, government officials and contractors," Sawant claimed.