Recent suspicions surrounding the spending of the G20 summit in Delhi have swirled in political circles. Saket Gokhale, a prominent leader of Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, has questioned the transparency of the allocated budget.
Mr. Saket Gokhale’s official statement said that the initial budget was INRRapidly increased to 990 million yen INR410 billion. He said the spending increase was aimed at boosting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public image ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
“Why shouldn’t the Bharatiya Janata Party be made to pay this additional fee?” INR3,110 cr, since it was clearly an unnecessary expenditure purely for Prime Minister Modi’s self-promotion and personal PR for the 2024 elections?” Gokhale asked on X (formerly Twitter).
Meanwhile, the Congress party also took aim at Prime Minister Modi, accusing him of using the event to boost his profile.
“Prime Minister Modi spent extra money putting up posters ahead of the parliamentary elections to brighten up his image. Prime Minister Modi covered up the city’s poor people and gave guests silver-plated and gold-plated tableware. We have made careful arrangements for this.” The parliamentary video said:
However, the government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) fact-checking team disputes these claims. PIB said the spending included not only the summit, but also investments in long-term infrastructure and assets.
The two-day event, which concluded on September 10, marked the end of India’s G20 Presidency. At the summit, there was unanimous agreement on the New Delhi leader’s declaration, confirming the success of the summit.
Despite this, Gokhale took to social media on the second day of the summit to highlight infrastructure issues at the venue. PIB denied the claims and said the rain caused minor flooding, which was quickly addressed.
