The Uttar Pradesh assembly on Tuesday witnessed a heated exchange during Question Hour when Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh asked Samajwadi Party MLA Faheem Irfan to "swear on your wife" that water has not reached his village under a central scheme and also offered to resign immediately if the claim was true.
On the second day of the monsoon session, Irfan criticised the state government's implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission, calling its condition "very poor".
He alleged that after the mission began, handpump facilities were discontinued, contractors damaged existing infrastructure, and roads were dug up to build water tanks.
"The situation is very bad; in many places, tanks have collapsed," Irfan said.
In response, Singh declared: "I tell Irfan to swear on his wife that water hasn't reached his village, and I guarantee that if water has not reached there, I will resign today itself." Irfan replied that the minister should not bring his wife into the matter and instead conduct an inquiry in at least one district.
"This talk of swearing on one's wife is inappropriate. If you do a proper inquiry, I will also resign from my assembly membership," he retorted.
Earlier, answering Irfan's main question, Singh stated that under the Jal Jeevan Mission, 515,995 km of the proposed 563,952 km water distribution network had been laid in the state.
He added that 196,822 km of roads were damaged during the work, and 190,605 km had been restored so far.
During supplementary questions, Irfan repeated his accusations about the overall state of the project, prompting the minister's "swear on your wife" remark.
Later, Singh clarified that the company awarded the contract had reported 90 per cent completion, and assured that any complaints would be investigated.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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