Poor man's son drives e-rickshaw, neta's son luxury car: Khera targets BJP

• Khera alleges a Rs 10,000-crore medicines procurement scam and questions Rs 17,542-crore expressway tenders.

• Congress leader accuses BJP’s central leadership of trying to sideline Yogi Adityanath.

• Khera defends the right to protest and challenges BJP leaders to an open debate.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera on Friday, 13 November accused the BJP governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh of corruption, nepotism and political infighting, alleging irregularities worth Rs 10,000 crore in medicines procurement and questioning the awarding of major expressway contracts in the state.

Addressing a press conference at the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters in Lucknow, Khera, chairman of the All India Congress Committee’s media and publicity department, also claimed that the BJP’s central leadership was seeking to sideline Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, and that the resulting power struggle within the party was coming at the expense of the people of the state.

Khera alleged that around Rs 10,000 crore had been siphoned off through irregularities in medicines procurement and accused senior BJP leaders of acting as commission agents.

Taking aim at what he described as the BJP’s culture of privilege, Khera invoked the positions and lifestyles of the families of senior leaders. Referring to Union home minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah’s position in cricket administration and Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak’s son driving a Fortuner, he contrasted the privileges enjoyed by politicians’ children with the limited opportunities available to ordinary people.

“Why is it that the son of a poor man is expected to drive an e-rickshaw, while the sons of leaders get luxury cars and positions?” he asked, according to reports of the press conference.

Khera also questioned the tendering process for four expressway link projects in Uttar Pradesh, whose combined cost was pegged at Rs 17,542 crore. He demanded to know who had benefited from the contracts and whether public money had been used transparently. The Uttar Pradesh cabinet had approved the projects in October.

Turning to the political friction within the BJP, Khera alleged that the party’s leadership in Delhi wanted to weaken Adityanath’s position. He linked the alleged differences to the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, claiming that the internal tussle was affecting governance in Uttar Pradesh.

He also criticised Adityanath over his reported warning that those participating in protests would not be eligible for government jobs. Khera defended the right to protest, arguing that dissent was a constitutional and democratic right. He accused the BJP of invoking the Ram temple issue to deflect scrutiny and evade questions on governance.

The Congress leader challenged BJP leaders to an open debate in Lucknow, saying his party was prepared to question the government on corruption, employment and the use of public funds.

The press conference came as the Congress stepped up its organisational activity in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. The party has been holding meetings and outreach programmes as it seeks to rebuild its organisation in the state.