Ashok Gehlot Questions BJP's Jal Jeevan Mission Record In Rajasthan; PHED Minister Kanhaiya Lal Chaudhary Hits Back With Corruption Charges

Jaipur: As the BJP government in Rajasthan prepares to celebrate the completion of three years in office, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has launched a weekly social media series titled ‘Budget Files’, seeking to scrutinise the government's budget announcements and promises.

Ashok Gehlot Launches Weekly 'Budget Files' Series To Question BJP Government

Under this political nitiative, Gehlot will release an episode every Saturday, highlighting a major government announcement and examining how much progress has actually been made on the ground.

In the first episode, released on Saturday, Gehlot targeted the BJP government over the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission, alleging that its performance in providing household tap water connections has fallen short of even what the previous Congress government achieved in a single year.

Congress Provided More Tap Connections In One Year Than BJP In Three, Claims Gehlot

Presenting figures to support his allegations, Gehlot claimed that the Congress government provided 13.88 lakh tap water connections in one year, whereas the BJP government had provided only 12.95 lakh connections in three years.

“Even today, 44 lakh families in Rajasthan are waiting for tap water connections. At the current pace, it would take more than 30 years to provide water to these households,” Gehlot said.

He accused the BJP government of laying only a pipeline of figures in its budget announcements, while people continued to wait for water connections in their homes.

Gehlot Questions BJP's 2023 Election Promise Of Tap Water For Every Household

Gehlot pointed out that the BJP had promised in its 2023 Assembly election manifesto to ensure tap water connections to every household under the Jal Jeevan Mission by 2025.

After coming to power in February 2024, the government had also promised in the Assembly to provide 25 lakh connections within a year. Subsequently, the 2025-26 Budget announced another target of 20 lakh connections.

Gehlot Alleges Sharp Decline In Household Tap Water Connections

However, according to Gehlot, the government provided only 9.44 lakh connections in 2024-25 against the target of 25 lakh. The number further declined to 2.71 lakh in 2025-26, while only 79,000 connections had been provided up to October this year.

“Despite announcements covering 45 lakh connections, the government has failed to provide even 14 lakh connections in three years. Every year, the promises have become bigger, but the actual work has declined,” he said.

BJP Minister Hits Back, Alleges Corruption Under Congress Rule

Responding to Gehlot's allegations, Rajasthan Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Kanhaiya Lal Chaudhary accused the previous Congress government of large-scale corruption and irregularities in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission between 2018 and 2023.

Chaudhary said the Congress government's handling of the scheme had damaged Rajasthan's reputation, alleging that pipelines were shown as laid on paper, water tanks were constructed without providing household connections, and serious financial irregularities took place.

He also pointed out that the then Public Health Engineering Minister had been jailed in connection with the alleged irregularities.

“The Congress government turned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission into a hub of corruption,” Chaudhary alleged.

The minister further claimed that more than Rs 1,000 crore allocated to the scheme during the Congress regime had lapsed and that the stipulated deadline had expired.

He said Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma personally visited New Delhi to persuade the Centre to extend the scheme's deadline and ensure the utilisation of the lapsed funds, thereby accelerating its implementation.

According to Chaudhary, the present government has so far provided tap water connections to more than 15 lakh rural households and is working to complete the remaining projects at a faster pace.

The minister challenged Gehlot to explain why pipelines were allegedly laid only on paper during the Congress regime, why water tanks remained disconnected, and what action was taken against those responsible for corruption.