On 4th June 2023, the Aguwani to Sultanganj bridge on the Ganga River collapsed near Sultanganj. The bridge, which is being constructed by Bihar govt and is considered a dream project of CM Nitish Kumar, is under construction for over 8 years and it collapsed for the second time. As soon as the news spread, Congress leaders started peddling lies implying that the bridge was one of the projects initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gujarat’s Congress leader Hitendra Pithadiya tweeted the video of the bridge collapse incident in Bihar along with a news screenshot that said Narendra Modi initiated a 4-lane bridge project parallel to the Vikramshila Bridge.
The Gujarat Congeess leader also abused PM Narendra Modi, calling him ‘Panauti, Nanhoos, Maut Ka Sadagar’.
Hitedra Pithadiya tweeted in Hindi, ‘[‘An under-construction bridge collapsed in Bihar. Inauspicious, ill-fated, the merchant of death.’ Pithadiya essentially used the adjectives for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It must be noted that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had called Narendra Modi a merchant of death in the 2007 Gujarat state assembly election campaigning. The Congress leader from Gujarat followed his leader’s footsteps and called Modi a merchant of death.
The news screenshot Pithadiya shared was that of the news of PM Modi laying the foundation stones of two bridge projects near Bhagalpur in Bihar. It is notable that none of the bridges collapsed. The bridges quoted in the news are – a parallel bridge to the Vikramshila bridge on the Ganga River and a bridge over the Kosi River near Fulaut between Veerpur and Bihpur. Narendra Modi laid the foundation stones of these two projects on 21st September 2020 through video conferencing.
The new 4-lane bridge parallel to the existing Vikramshila bridge is being built with a budget of 1110 crore rupees. It is 4.455 km long. The Congress leader meant this bridge in his tweet, implying this bridge collapsed during construction.
But the fact is, the construction of the collapsed bridge started in 2015 itself, while the construction work of the new Vikramshila bridge is yet to start. Still, Hitendra Pithadiya implied that it has collapsed. The other bridge on the Kosi River spans around 28.94 km including the approach roads. Its budget is 1478.40 crore rupees.
The four-lane under-construction bridge that collapsed today is situated approximately 35 km west of Bhagalpur, the location of the new Vikramshila Bridge. It connects Aguwani and Sultanganj across the Ganga River. SP Singla Constructions Limited is currently constructing this four-lane bridge for the Bihar Pul Nirman Nigam Limited (BRPNNL) at a total cost of ₹1710.77 crore.
The quality of the construction work by this company was questioned when in April 2022, a part of this bridge succumbed to the impact of storm and rains that lashed the area. A part of this bridge caved in near Sultanganj on 30th April 2022.
The Congress leader from Gujarat blatantly peddled the lie that it was one of the bridges initiated by the Prime Minister. The foundation stone of this 3160-meter-long bridge was laid by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on 23rd February 2014 at Parbatta in the Khagaria district. He then inaugurated the actual construction work of this bridge on 9th March 2015. The approach road to this bridge from Khagaria spans 16 km while it is 4 km long from Sultanganj.
In this way, the Congress leader peddled lies about the bridge-collapse incident to target PM Modi, whereas the bridge, in fact, is the dream project of CM Nitish Kumar and also collapsed once in April 2022. This is the second time of its collapse in the last 13 months. Congress leader comfortably ignored this fact to peddle his politically motivated lies about the bridge collapse.
