Ladies and gentlemen, you will be shocked to know what the truth was, as disclosed by Rohtak Lok Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda during his press conference at 4:45 p.m. today in New Delhi.
During the press conference, Deepender Singh Hooda said that Gurugram Lok Sabha MP Rao Inderjit Singh did not attend the meeting called by Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Patil to discuss and resolve the waterlogging issues in Haryana.
And he is holding a press conference today after Rao Inderjit Singh blamed construction carried out during the Congress regime for the severe waterlogging that has crippled the city this monsoon, drawing a sharp response from the Congress, which pointed out that Singh himself was the sitting MP from the constituency at the time.
“These old and traditional drains, which carried rainwater from the Aravallis to the Yamuna, were built over during the Congress regime. That is the reason the entire city is facing waterlogging today,” Rao Inderjit Singh said.
However, five Lok Sabha MPs from the Congress party and four Lok Sabha MPs from the ruling party attended the meeting. Gurugram Lok Sabha MP Rao Inderjit Singh, however, did not attend this very important meeting, which took place on August 7 at Haryana Bhavan in New Delhi.
Interestingly, I do not know why Gurugram BJP Lok Sabha MP Rao Inderjeet Singh, who is also a Union Minister in the Narendra Modi government, did not attend the meeting. That is something only Rao Sahab can answer.
Rao Inderjit Singh has represented the Gurgaon/Gurugram constituency in the Lok Sabha since 2009. The Millennium City of Gurgaon, now often referred to as “Gurujam” because of its notorious traffic congestion, has faced serious waterlogging problems, particularly since 2016.
I know this firsthand, as I was working in Gurgaon in 2016 for India’s first and only reputed telecom magazine, VoicenData. During heavy rainfall that year, the situation in the city became extremely difficult. In fact, in 2016, due to severe waterlogging and traffic congestion extending all the way to Gurgaon’s Rajiv Chowk, many commuters were stuck on the roads for up to 48 hours. Some were even forced to spend the night in their vehicles.
The question, therefore, remains: Why did the elected representative of Gurugram, who is also a Union Minister in the Narendra Modi government, not attend such an important meeting called by Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Patil on August 7 discuss the waterlogging issue.
Addressing a press conference at the Congress office here, Congress MP and Permanent Invitee Member of Congress Working Committee Deepender Singh Hooda said Gurugram, once a preferred destination for some of the world’s leading Fortune 500 companies, had been reduced to a city plagued by waterlogging, traffic jams, garbage and pollution after 12 years of BJP rule.
Hooda said that instead of taking concrete steps to prevent waterlogging, the government spends crores of rupees every year setting up call centers, yet when waterlogging and traffic jams occur, no one even answers the phone. He accused the BJP of trying to shift the blame onto previous governments to hide its own failures.
Targeting Union Minister and Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh, Hooda said he had represented Gurugram in the Lok Sabha for the past 22 years and had been a Union minister since 2014, yet the city’s drainage system had still not been fixed.
“Blaming previous governments for today’s problems and shirking its own responsibility has become an old habit of the BJP,” Hooda said.
He observed that 12 people had lost their lives in the past two years because of failures in infrastructure and waterlogging. He also alleged that Gurugram was witnessing some of the world’s longest traffic jams, with commuters forced to remain stranded for hours.
Hooda said even premium residential areas, including those around Trump Tower, were facing waterlogging, while Gurugram had effectively turned into “Kudagram” because of the garbage problem. He further stated that the city had reached the number-one position in the country in terms of air pollution.
Questioning the accountability of the government and local representatives, Hooda said that nine out of Haryana’s 10 MPs attended a review meeting chaired by the Union Jal Shakti Minister on August 7, but Rao Inderjit Singh was absent.
He also criticised Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini for his reported remark that “there are floods in California too”, noting that such statements reflected an attempt to evade responsibility for Gurugram’s problems.
Recalling the Congress government’s tenure, Hooda said several major infrastructure projects were undertaken in Gurugram, including the expansion of the Metro network, the four-lane Gurugram-Faridabad highway, Gurugram University, the Gurugram Canal, development of Golf Course Road and the Dwarka Expressway. He said 63 per cent of the work on the Dwarka Expressway had been completed during the Congress-led government.
Hooda demanded a CAG audit of the around Rs 15,000 crore collected through External Development Charges (EDC) and Infrastructure Development Charges (IDC) in Gurugram, asking the government to disclose where the money had been spent. He also demanded that the accountability of the three agencies responsible for Gurugram — the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) — be fixed.
Targeting the “triple-engine government”, Hooda said the BJP had been in power at the Centre, in Haryana and in the municipal corporation for 12 years and all three levels should be held accountable for the city’s condition.
He said Gurugram generated the country’s highest GST collections and therefore the Centre should allocate adequate funds to resolve the city’s infrastructure problems.
Hooda further said that 33 km of Metro network had been constructed in Gurugram during six years of Congress rule, whereas not even an inch of Metro expansion had taken place during the last 12 years of BJP rule.
He demanded immediate expansion of the Metro network.
Taking a swipe at the government, Hooda alleged that instead of addressing people’s problems, the administration was using police action against Congress leaders raising their voice against the government and detaining peaceful protesters, which he termed a sign of the BJP government’s “dictatorial mindset”.
Gurugram Rural Congress district president Vardhan Yadav, Gurugram Urban Congress district president Pankaj Dabar, former minister Sukhbir Kataria, Haryana Congress working president Jitender Bhardwaj, INTUC Haryana President Amit Yadav and Haryana NSUI president Avinash Yadav were among those present at the press conference.
