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Amid the election razzmatazz in Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for a whopping 80 Lok Sabha seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is confident that the slew of expressway projects commissioned or envisioned under the Yogi Adityanath government will deliver favourable results for the ruling party.
UP possesses the largest expressway network in India.
The expressways entail land acquisition and a plethora of civil and construction projects in the periphery. These activities catalyse the local economy, boost land prices, create employment and provide faster transportation to farm produce.
The various expressway projects in UP commissioned or under-construction post-2017 have a total budget outlay of more than Rs 80,000 crore. The BJP is looking to reap political dividends from these mega projects.
Two expressway projects — the 340-km Purvanchal Expressway and the 296-km Bundelkhand Expressway — were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2021 and July 2022, respectively.
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Modi also gave the tag ‘Express Pradesh’ to UP for its large number of expressways and the ‘speed of governance’ under Adityanath.
Moreover, under-construction expressways include Meerut-Prayagraj 594-km Ganga Expressway and 91-km Gorakhpur Link Expressway, being developed by the UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA). These two projects are estimated to cost more than Rs 42,000 crore.
Ganga Expressway, which covers 12 districts extending from Western to Eastern UP, will cost Rs 36,000 crore and is likely to be commissioned by December 2024.
Some other expressways, being helmed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in UP, include the 63-km Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway and the 380-km Ghaziabad-Kanpur Expressway, among others.
Two expressway projects, namely the Greater Noida-Agra 165-km Yamuna Expressway and the 302-km Agra-Lucknow Expressway, were commissioned during the tenure of former chief ministers Mayawati (2007-12) and Akhilesh Yadav (2021-17), respectively.
Since these expressways cover more than 40 of the total 75 districts, UP today ranks first in terms of expressway length in India.
With around 1,225 km of operational expressways, the state accounts for almost 45 per cent of India’s composite length of expressways. After the under-construction projects are completed, the total length of the expressways in UP would exceed 1,900 km.
“The expressway projects in UP not only promote faster passenger and cargo movement but nurture local hubs of socioeconomic activities. The local community benefits with the opening of schools, markets and warehouses near the expressways. They also promote tourism in remote areas,” BJP legislator Shalabh Mani Tripathi told Business Standard.
He claimed the development projects such as expressways and airports will help the BJP in furthering its pro-development narrative in canvassing and getting the blessings of the voters.
He claimed the development projects, such as expressways and airports, will help the BJP further its pro-development agenda and this will be welcomed by the people.
However, the Congress, which is fighting the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in UP in a tie-up with the Samajwadi Party (SP), says the Saffron party will not gain political mileage in this election.
“The BJP excels in creating a false narrative and peddling lies in the name of development. The people will teach them a lesson in the elections,” Congress’ candidate from Deoria Lok Sabha seat in Eastern UP and former UP legislator Akhilesh Pratap Singh said.
In the 2022 UP Assembly polls, Adityanath broke the jinx with his expressway projects by retaining power for two consecutive terms, unlike his two immediate predecessors — Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati.
