Uttar Pradesh Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar on Saturday, 27 June launched a pointed political offensive against Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, alleging widespread corruption in the construction of the Agra-Lucknow Expressway during the previous SP government. Rajbhar made the allegations in a detailed post on X, claiming the project became a symbol of mismanagement and that its consequences continue to affect commuters today.

Key Allegations

Rajbhar alleged that the 302-km expressway — which he claims was extended from an original 270 km to over 300 km due to deliberate route alterations — was built by bypassing construction standards in what he described as a rush to extract illicit gains. “In the haste to make quick money, the expressway was built ignoring all standards. Who knows how many lives have been lost so far. How many families have been shattered,” he wrote, according to his post.

The minister alleged that the expressway has since earned grim informal names among road users. “The greed to make money through corruption twisted and turned this expressway up and down so much that it has become notorious as the ‘Accident Expressway,’ and many people even call it the ‘Expressway of Death,’” Rajbhar stated.

Land Acquisition and Route Manipulation Claims

Rajbhar further alleged irregularities in land acquisition, specifically in the Firozabad-to-Etawah belt, which falls close to Saifai — the Yadav family’s ancestral village in Etawah district. He claimed that land was purchased at below-market prices before the expressway route was finalised, after which the alignment was reportedly adjusted to pass near those holdings, inflating their value.

“Records were altered to label the lands as residential. Many registrations happened after the expressway was announced. Then massive looting took place in the compensation,” Rajbhar alleged in his post. He also claimed the route deviation added unnecessary length to the project, directly increasing costs and travel time for users.

Political Context

The Agra-Lucknow Expressway was a flagship infrastructure project of the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP government and was inaugurated in 2016. It has since been a recurring flashpoint in Uttar Pradesh’s political discourse, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies frequently citing it when alleging SP-era malfeasance. Rajbhar, who leads the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and is a member of the BJP-led alliance in the state, has been a vocal critic of the SP leadership.

Notably, this is not the first time the expressway’s construction has been raised as a political issue. Critics of the BJP alliance, including SP leaders, have consistently denied such allegations and countered with charges of their own against the current state administration.

Rajbhar’s Warning

Concluding his post with a direct threat, Rajbhar wrote: “The Saifai family will surely face punishment for this. They will go to jail via this very expressway.” He added that he holds a “dossier” of what he termed the Saifai family’s wrongdoings. These allegations remain unverified and no formal legal proceedings have been announced in connection with them.

The SP has not issued an immediate formal response to Rajbhar’s latest salvo. The remarks deepen the ongoing political battle in Uttar Pradesh over infrastructure accountability, with both sides trading accusations ahead of future electoral cycles.