MIRZAPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused Opposition parties of shedding “crocodile tears” for farmers while doing nothing for them when in power and wasting public money by stalling projects.

After inaugurating Bansagar Dam Major Canal, 40 years after its foundation was laid, at Chandaipur in Mirzapur in East UP, Modi said: “Those (opposition parties) having learnt shedding crocodile tears for farmers should tell why their governments at the Centre and state turned a blind eye to mega irrigation projects like Bansagar Dam Major Canal and issue of hiking MSP for crops stalled for decades.”

“By stalling Bansagar project, they not only deprived farmers of the benefits of this canal but also caused a huge loss of public money. It started with a budget of Rs 300 crore in 1978. But the delay has escalated cost to Rs 3500 crore,” he said.

Targeting Rahul Gandhi, Modi said: “After the foundation of this project was laid by the then PM Morarji Desai in 1978, his (Rahul) party was in power for two decades. SP and BSP formed governments, but none showed determination to complete this mega project.”

“It is not Bansagar alone. Such ‘atke, latke and bhatke’ (stuck up and derailed) projects can be found in different states. The Opposition never had any concern. When you gave us a chance in 2014, my government started searching for such stalled, derailed and forgotten projects. After BJP came to power in UP in 2017, works on Bansagar were restarted and completed in record time of 15 months.”

