Among these, is a four-lane road (5.46 km stretch) project between Jajmau and Ramadevi on National Highway 25 — a Central government initiative.

Through the efforts of local Congress MP and Union Minister of State for Home Shri Prakash Jaiswal, the project worth Rs 159 crore was approved and funded by the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was appointed the nodal agency for the project and construction work began in December 2005. The project was neither funded by the state government nor any of its department appointed as a nodal agency. Project Director-Kanpur (NHAI) J S Parmar said: “The project is an initiative of the Union government and is being executed by NHAI.” Denying any participation of the state government in the project, Parmar said construction work was likely to be completed by 2010.

District Magistrate Anil Kumar Sagar, however, said the projects announced by Mayawati have been divided into three categories. “There are projects which have already begun, declaration has also been made for projects which are going to start and those which are still in the pipeline,” he said.

On being asked about the role of BSP government in this particular project, he said: “All the projects of the Union government are executed with the support of the state government.”

Bemused by Mayawati’s claim, Shri Prakash Jaiswal told The Indian Express: “How can she take credit for a project which had not started during her tenure?” He added that not even one per cent of the project cost has been borne by the state government. “The district authorities have only removed encroachers in the Jajmau area. On my initiative, the project was approved and funded by Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways.”

“Most of the Union government projects are carried out in partnership with the state government, but this project is the sole initiative of the UPA government,” the minister said.

He expressed surprise that Mayawati has woken up on the issue only when nearly 50 per cent of the project has been completed.

“It is surprising that no claim has been made by the CM on the under-construction bridge on the Ganga,” Jaiswal said.