Rajdeep Sardesai falsely claims that Modi govt approves projects only before elections in states, asks some silly questions: A fact check

On 11^th September, Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai made a serious allegation against the Narendra Modi government, accusing it of approving major infrastructure projects for electoral benefit. Referring to a Railway doubling project and an Expressway project going through Bihar, in a post on ?, Sardesai alleged that the project has been approved just before the state’s assembly elections.

Notably, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs yesterday approved two major infrastructure projects totalling ₹7,616 crore. One is doubling of Bhagalpur – Dumka – Rampurhat single railway line section in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal totalling 177 km with total cost of ₹3,169 Crore, and the other is 4-lane greenfield access-controlled 82.4 km Mokama-Munger section of the Buxar-Bhagalpur High-Speed Corridor in Bihar with an outlay of ₹4447.38 Crore. As mentioned, the railway track doubling project goes through 3 states including Bihar, while the access-controlled highway project lies within Bihar.

Story that caught the eye: Cabinet okays Rs 7,616 crore worth of infra projects for poll-bound Bihar.
5 qs:
1) why are mega projects for states unveiled only at election time?
2) Is there any rigorous audit on how the money (obtained from us taxpayers) is actually spent?
3)…

— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) September 11, 2025

Alleging that both projects have been approved only due to upcoming Bihar assembly elections, Rajdeep Sardesai posed 5 questions – why are mega projects for states unveiled only at election time, is there any rigorous audit on how the money is actually spent, are the rules different for Centre and opposition ruled states, what would happen if we had one nation, one election, is it fair to say that one party’s freebies/ ‘revadi’ is another party’s welfare/development bonanza.

Rajdeep Sardesai has posed these questions based on completely false and baseless claims, because it is completely wrong to allege that the Modi govt approves mega projects only at election time. NDA government’s push for infrastructure is well known, and at almost every cabinet meeting, such mega projects are regularly approved. In the last few months, the government has approved several such projects across in India. Such projects cover states ruled by both NDA and non-NDA parties, and states where no elections are due recently.

Here are some such big projects announced in recent months:

The above table clearly shows how Rajdeep Sardesai is lying to make fake allegations against the union government. In the last six months, the govt has approved several similar infrastructure projects every month. Yesterday’s approval of two projects was just part of such regular approvals.

Moreover, a look at the states in the table shows how Rajdeep Sardesai’s claim of approving elections only before elections and discrimination against opposition states is also completely wrong. Major projects have been approved in states where there are no assembly elections scheduled, and several projects have been approved in non-NDA ruled states, like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Punjab, Meghalaya etc.

Now, here are the answers to Rajdeep Sardesai’s questions

1) Why are mega projects for states unveiled only at election time?

Ans. Wrong claim, mega projects for states are unveiled all the time, not only at election time, as seen above.

2) Is there any rigorous audit on how the money (obtained from us taxpayers) is actually spent?

Ans. This is a silly question coming from a veteran journalist. CAG audits all the spendings of the government, including infrastructure projects. Railways, NHAI and other relevant implementing organisations have their own internal audits.

Moreover, not all of these projects are entirely govt funded, many projects include financial contribution from the private sector.

3) Are the rules different for Centre and opposition ruled states? Discriminatory federalism underlying ‘double engine’ politics?

Ans. The above list shows this is another false claim. Several big infrastructure projects are in non-NDA ruled states. Road and Railway projects span multiple states and it is not even possible to construct them on based of the ruling party.

Note: The term ‘Opposition-ruled’ used by Rajdeep Sardesai is an oxymoron, because opposition means not in the government, there can’t be any ‘opposition-ruled government’, he most probably wanted to mean ‘non-NDA ruled’.

 4) What would happen if we had one nation, one election?

Ans. Rhetorical question with no link with the subject. Also, it is already established that projects are approved without any election.

 5) Is it fair to say that one party’s freebies/ ‘revadi’ is another party’s welfare/development bonanza?

Ans. Another silly question, capital expenditure on infrastructure projects are not freebies or ‘revadi’, they are literally the opposite. Freebies are direct payments to people, while these are capital expenses that will create major infrastructures, generate jobs, and contribute to overall economic development of the places where they are located.

In conclusion, the steady stream of projects approvals in 2025, including in often in states far from polls and ruled by non-NDA parties, proves how Rajdeep Sardesai is shamelessly lying. These projects reflect a commitment of the Modi government to national infrastructure under initiatives like PM Gati Shakti, and have nothing to do with elections or the ruling party of the state.