Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge blames PM Modi for Delhi airport roof collapse amid heavy rain

NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge blamed 'corruption' and 'criminal negligence' for the collapse of the Delhi Airport canopy at Terminal 1 on Friday morning, resulting in one death and several injuries.
Kharge cited this incident along with several other infrastructural failures to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claims of developing "world-class infrastructure." He also noted that the collapsed portion was inaugurated by the PM on March 10.

Hours after the incident, Kharge took to X to express his concerns. "Corruption and criminal negligence are responsible for the collapse of shoddy infrastructure falling like a deck of cards, in the past 10 years of Modi Govt," he wrote. He listed several other incidents, including the Jabalpur airport roof collapse, the poor condition of Ayodhya's new roads, Ram Mandir leakage, cracks in the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link road, and 13 new bridges falling in Bihar in 2023 and 2024, among others.
He also mentioned the Pragati Maidan Tunnel submerging and the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy in Gujarat.
"Our heartfelt condolences to the victims of the Delhi airport tragedy. They bore the brunt of a Corrupt, Inept and Selfish Govt," Kharge added.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi echoed Kharge's sentiments, focusing on the recent inauguration by the PM and alleging poor quality of work. She stated, "Delhi Airport Terminal-1, which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister in March, today its roof collapsed in which a cab driver died tragically. The roof of Jabalpur Airport, which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister three months ago, also collapsed. The whole country is saddened by the poor condition of construction work in Ayodhya."
Questioning whether the PM would take responsibility for these issues, Priyanka added, "This is the corrupt model of BJP of 'take donations and give business' which has now been exposed. The question is whether the Prime Minister will take responsibility for these poor construction works and this corrupt model?"
In response to these accusations, BJP leader Amit Malviya clarified that the part of T1 which collapsed was opened in 2009 during the Congress-led UPA era. "The part of T1 that collapsed was opened in 2009 when Congress-led UPA was in power," he said. "In those days there was no concept of quality check and contracts were given to whoever sent the biggest kickback to the ruling Congress. Sonia Gandhi, who was then the super PM, must answer."
Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu also weighed in, clarifying that the collapsed roof canopy was part of an older structure built in 2009. "We are taking this incident seriously, I want to clarify that the building inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi is on the other side and the building that collapsed here is an old building and was opened in 2009."
The incident occurred amid heavy rains that hit Delhi-NCR on Friday.