Congress accuses PM of lying about number of houses built during UPA

MUMBAI: Congress leader Ashok Chavan Friday refuted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim that the UPA government built only 25 lakh houses in its last four years, against 1.25 crore houses built by the present NDA government. The UPA government built almost 25 lakh houses per year between 2004 and 2013, Chavan, president of the Maharashtra unit of Congress, said in a statement.

Speaking in the temple town of Shirdi in Maharashtra Friday, Modi claimed that the previous government built 25 lakh houses for the poor in the last four years of its rule, while the present NDA government has constructed 1.25 crore houses in four years.

The Congress-led government was not serious about poverty alleviation, the prime minister alleged.

Chavan accused Modi of lying and misleading people.

"Nobody can compete with Modi when it comes to speaking untruth. Devotees of Saibaba such as me are sad that the prime minister speaks lies even in Saibaba's Shirdi," the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

"Under the Indira Awas Yojana, between 2004 and 2013, during UPA government, 2.24 crore houses were constructed. Which means almost 25 lakh houses were completed every year," Chavan claimed.

As per the Comptroller and Auditor General's report of 2014, the UPA government constructed 1.28 crore houses during 2008-2013, the Congress leader added.

The Rajiv Awas Yojana, launched in 2013, saw construction of 1.17 lakh houses in one year, he said.

Modi renamed the scheme as Sardar Patel National Urban Housing Mission with the promise of constructing two crore houses by 2022, but as of July 10, 2017, only 1.33 lakh houses had been built, Chavan alleged.

"I pray to Saibaba to give the prime minister the wisdom to speak truth," Chavan said.

The Congress leader also alleged that the government spent Rs 5 crore on Friday's function in Shirdi where Modi distributed keys of "ten houses" to beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.