The Congress in Uttar Pradesh will now protest against every Union minister who visits Allahabad.
The Congress in Uttar Pradesh will now protest against every Union minister who visits Allahabad. The protest is against Allahabad not figuring in the first city of smart cities to be developed by the Modi government.
The Congress has further sought the resignation of two BJP MPs, Shyama Charan Gupta and Keshav Maurya (Phulpur), for not ensuring proper representation of Allahabad on the development map.
“The MPs representing the city are responsible for the dismal performance of the city so we have decided to launch agitation against every minister or parliamentarian who visits in the city,” said UP Congress committee general secretary Mukund Tiwari.
He said that Allahabad, which was on the top of the list in a poll conducted as part of citizen engagement, failed to figure in the final list.
“Allahabad is a city of great religious, historical, political and literary importance but the MPs obviously did not bother enough to ensure that the city is put on the first smart city list,” he said.
He further said that top political leaders from almost every party, including the BJP, belong to Allahabad but the Centre continues to ignore the city.
The Congress leader alleged that the funds earmarked for the development of Allahabad were utilised for tours of officials who visited the city to assess its presence in the smart city project.
The Congress leader also slammed UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav for ignoring Allahabad and promoting only his native village Sefai.
“It is only when the Kumbh Mela is held here that the state government concerns itself with development. If the government sustains its development programme, Allahabad can emerge as one of the most developed cities of the state. Annual mahotsavs are held in Sefai where crores of rupees are spent every year but a historical city like Allahabad does not get any such event,” he said.
