CM Ashok Gehlot takes dig at Gajendra Shekhawat over ERCP project

Gehlot further said that it is beyond comprehension how a water facilitation project in a water-deficient state like Rajasthan does not get the status of a national project.

Jaipur:Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot yet again targeted Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, this time over the Rajasthan Eastern Canal Project (ERCP) issue. Taking to Twitter, Gehlot said that despite being the Jal Shakti Minister, Shekhawat had failed to get ERCP the status of a National Project. He further highlighted the importance of the project and the facilitation it can potentially bring to the state of Rajasthan.

In the tweet, he said, "We intend to get the work of East Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) completed soon so that 13 districts of East Rajasthan can get drinking and irrigation water. The state government has so far spent about Rs 1,000 crores on ERCP, and has proposed 9,600 crores in this budget. Because of the limited resources of the state government, this project will take 15 years to complete, while the cost of the project will also increase. If the central government gives it the status of a national project, if that grant is received, the work will also catch s[peed and the work will get done at a lower expenditure."

Gehlot further said that it is beyond comprehension how a water facilitation project in a water-deficient state like Rajasthan does not get the status of a national project. "This is the situation when the MPs here are the Jalshakti ministers themselves, and yet but they are not doing anything for the state," it added.

Earlier during a programme in Jaipur on Friday, Rajasthan Water Minister Mahesh Joshi reminded Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat about the promise made by the Prime Minister regarding the ERCP project. On this, Shekhawat claimed that the PM made no such promise saying, '"if the Prime Minister has said even a word about this project, then either I will leave politics or you and the Chief Minister should leave their posts." After this, Mahesh Joshi himself released the clipping of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in Ajmer, in which he spoke about the ERCP project. The political rhetoric has seen a stir since the video was released.