Madhya Pradesh government has released pictures comparing its roads with those in US.
Highlights
- Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister derided for saying roads in US worse
- State government releases photos to counter criticism
- In August, minister had said potholed roads reminder of Congress regime
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, was mostly derided on social media after he declared in Washington that he felt the
roads back home were much better than those in the US.
Now his government has released a series of photographs to counter the ridicule and back up Mr Chouhan's words.
In comparison photos titled "Roads in US vs Roads in MP", the Madhya Pradesh government's public relations department has contrasted the state's roads - appearing smooth and untrammeled by ditches - with what appear to be badly potholed and scarred roads in cities like New York and Los Angeles.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said roads in Madhya Pradesh were better than those in US.
On Tuesday, Mr Chouhan, at a meeting with investors, remarked: "When I got down at the Washington Airport and travelled on roads, I felt the roads in Madhya Pradesh are better than the United States."
Reacting to the general smiles greeting his statement, he grinned: "I am not saying it just for the sake of it." He then explained how his government has constructed 1.75 lakh km of roads in the state. "We have connected all villages with roads."
The United States' road network exceeds 65.8 lakh km, the world's longest and biggest road network.
The Chouhan government has been frequently criticised for the potholed roads in the state capital as well as in other parts of the state.
The images were released by the Madhya Pradesh government's public relations department.
On Twitter, a 2016 photo of Mr Chouhan being carried across a flooded road was circulated, with the hashtag 'MP Roads'.
Posting hilarious pics and memes, many put up photos of beautiful highways, claiming them to be from Madhya Pradesh.In August, Mr Chouhan's cabinet colleague in-charge of roads Rampal Singh had hit back at criticism of roads by suggesting it was a deliberate strategy.
"The potholes are a reminder of the condition of roads under Congress rule," Mr Singh, the public works minister told NDTV in August this year.
The BJP has been governing the state for the last 12 years.