A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase of the Noida International Airport in Gautam Buddha Nagar district’s Jewar, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Sunday staked claim to the project, saying it was her party’s government in Uttar Pradesh that laid the foundation of the aviation facility.

In a press statement, the former chief minister said, “Jewar Airport ki sirf parikalpana hi nahi, balki buniyadi kaam bhi BSP sarkar ke dauran shuru ho chuke the (Not just the conceptualisation, but the foundational work of Jewar airport had begun during the BSP government).”

The key basic infrastructure related to the project had already been initiated by her government, she added.

The BSP chief also alleged delays by the then UPA government, saying, “If the Congress-led Central government at the time had not created hurdles, the project would have been completed earlier like the Yamuna Expressway.”

Positioning BSP’s governance model as development-oriented, she urged people not to be swayed by what she termed as “misleading politics” of rival parties and appealed for support to the BSP’s dictum of “Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay” (Welfare and happiness of all).

She also raised the long-pending demand for a separate High Court bench in western Uttar Pradesh, saying the demand remains unfulfilled.

The airport was conceptualised in 2001 during the tenure of then chief minister Rajnath Singh, and was subsequently given shape the next year under the Mayawati-led government. The project, however, could not be finalised due to lack of necessary clearances.

It was revived as a fresh project after the BJP came to power in the state in 2017.