"Ridiculous" BJP's Rajendra Rathore hits back at Ashok Gehlot over refinery project

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], January 11 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajendra Rathore criticised the former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's comments on the Refinery Project, calling them "ridiculous" and stating that they make the phrase 'Ulte Bans Bareilly Ko' (meaning actions contradicting intentions) all the more meaningful.
Rathore accused the Congress government of "deliberately delaying the refinery project" in the Pachpadra area.
"The foundation stone of the refinery was laid in the year 2017 during the previous BJP government, which was to be completed in October 2022. But the Congress deliberately delayed the refinery project and its cost increased from Rs 36 thousand crore to Rs 72 thousand crore. Ashok Gehlot had fixed the date of starting the project by announcing it three times in the Assembly," Rathore said.
He further emphasised that Rajasthan Chief Minister, Bhajanlal Sharma, is "committed" to delivering the refinery to the people of Rajasthan.
"Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma is committed to giving the gift of the refinery to the people of the state soon. The former Leader of Opposition said that when our government was formed in December 2023, the work of the refinery was 72 per cent complete. We accelerated the work and took it to 84 per cent in a year. Currently, the construction work of Rajasthan Refinery is going on at a fast pace. Out of its 9 units, more than 90 per cent of the work on almost all the units has been completed," Rathore said.
Earlier, Ashok Gehlot had targeted the BJP-led Rajasthan government for extending the timeline for the completion of the refinery project in the Pachpadra area.
"They wasted one more year, they wanted it as soon as the government was formed when I went there to review the refinery, they had promised that they would complete it by 31 December 24, now they are saying one month or two months, it is a good thing if it comes within one or two months, we will be happy because they wasted five years already. When we laid the foundation stone in 2013, then no work was done on it for five years. Its cost which was about 40 thousand crores has become almost 70 thousand crores," Gehlot said. (ANI)