Speaking to mediapersons here, Yadav said, “Those who raise fingers at the highway built by others, (they) make various statements after their government is formed. Today, the most expensive highway has been made.” “Till yesterday, we used to search in newspapers how much was spent to build the highway. But today, all the newspapers mentioned that it was built at a cost of Rs 7,000 crore.

“If the compensation for the farmers was Rs 2,000 crore, Rs 5,000 crore was left. If we divide this Rs 5,000 crore by the 91-km road length, it costs more than Rs 50 crore per kilometre, and that too for a four-lane project,” Yadav said.

Claiming that it is a four-lane highway, and not an expressway, the Samajwadi Party chief said, “Our chief minister does not know the difference between a four-lane highway and an expressway.

“The road was not built as per the standards of the Indian Road Congress. And, whosoever played with the standards, will this government ever take action against them?” During his speech in Azamgarh, Adityanath accused the Samajwadi Party of having links with ‘D Company’ under the guise of development.

Hitting back at the chief minister for his remarks, Yadav said, “Explain what is D Company… Whom are you referring to as D Company? Let me tell you, it is development company.” Talking about the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, which Yadav inaugurated in 2016, the Samajwadi Party leader said it was made due to ‘Netaji’ (Mulayam Singh Yadav), whom Azamgarh elected as its Lok Sabha MP.

“I made the announcement, laid the foundation and worked for land acquisition. Similarly, the standards followed to build the Purvanchal Expressway (during the Samajwadi Party regime) followed those set by the Indian Road Congress,” he said.

Yadav also said that if the Samajwadi Party is voted to power, “we will do better work on the Purvanchal Expressway as compared to the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, so that it looks better”. PTI NAV ARI