The former chief minister claims the BJP government provided fewer tap connections in three years than his administration did in one.
Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday accused the BJP government of failing to meet its Jal Jeevan Mission commitments, according to ThePrint. Gehlot released the first episode of a new social media video series, ‘Budget Files’, to scrutinise the gap between budget announcements and their implementation.
The Congress leader claimed that the current government provided only 12.95 lakh tap connections over three financial years. He contrasted this with the 13.88 lakh connections provided by his Congress administration during the 2022-23 period alone.
Gehlot alleged that the BJP government has not met its target of 45 lakh connections announced across two budgets. He further stated that 44 lakh families in the state are still waiting for water connections and that stalled payments to contractors have caused work to be suspended.
Responding to these claims, Rajasthan Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Kanhaiya Lal Chaudhary accused the previous Congress government of large-scale corruption and irregularities between 2018 and 2023. Chaudhary alleged that the Congress administration showed pipelines as laid on paper while failing to provide actual household connections.
The PHED Minister also claimed that the previous government's handling of the mission damaged the state's reputation and noted that the former minister had been jailed in connection with alleged irregularities.
