Rashmika Mandanna Gets Schooled By Congress Leaders About Her Comments On Atal Setu Bridge; Ad Draws Flak

Kerala Congress Schools Rashmika Mandanna & Her Remarks On Atal Setu: Rashmika Mandanna and her controversial interviews are always a subject of severe trolling, and criticism, and come in bad taste for many. The 'Animal' actress's recent advertisement on Atal Setu bridge in Mumbai drew so much flak and harsh criticism.

It was just a day ago that Rashmika Mandanna was all over the news for promoting the ED-led advertisement of NDA government's Atal Setu bridge which runs for 22 kilometers in six lanes cutting short the duration from 2 hours to 20 minutes. Many wondered at the audacity for the ad that was campaigned for and directed by ED.

Kerala Congress Puts Out Some Data

The INC wing from Kerala pointed out in an elaborate post on the official Twitter (X) handle of the political party and wrote, "Dear Rashmika Mandanna Ji,

The nation has seen paid ads and surrogate ads before. This is the first time we are seeing an ED-directed ad. It came out well. Good job!

We noticed that the Atal Setu appears practically empty from your ad. Being from Kerala, we initially thought that Mumbai has such low traffic, so we checked with our friends in
@INCMumbai
.

They informed us that the Rajiv Gandhi Bandra-Worli Sea Link has much higher traffic and shared a video for reference. Take a look at this video.

A video alone isn't enough to convince the naysayers, so we decided to gather some data.

The 5.6 km Bandra-Worli Sea Link, constructed by the Congress Government at a cost of ₹1,634 crore, was inaugurated in 2009. Enforcement Directored ads were unheard of back then.

The Sea Link became widely used without any show-offs. The revenue collected from the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, which charges ₹85 per car, was ₹9.95 crore in March 2022 alone. Detailed data is available on the MSRDC website.

Now let's examine the success of the Atal Setu Bridge. It was built at a cost of ₹17,840 crore, with a toll rate of ₹250 per car for single trip-an unbearable amount for the common man.

Since its inauguration, the total toll collected was a paltry ₹22.57 crore in the 102 days between January 12 and April 23. This translates to a monthly revenue of just ₹6.6 crore. At this rate, it would take 225 years to recover the investment of ₹17,840 crore, not accounting for interest.

This indicates that the bridge is being used by roughly 20% of the vehicles in comparison to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The estimated monthly revenue was ₹30 crore before inauguration, resulting in a shortfall of ₹23.4 crore every month! The reluctance of MMRDA to share data is apparent.

These figures include the initial enthusiasm of Mumbaikars trying out the new bridge.

Can you do a pro-bono video on why Mumbaikars are not using the bridge? Is it due to high toll rates?, (sic)." They also attached a set of videos and newspaper clippings to second their argument. Check out the post below.

However, enthusiastic Twitterati have replied to the Kerala Congress' post and wrote, "The Bandra Worli Sea Link was also initiated by a BJP/ NDA government. Nitin Gadkari was the PWD minister of Maharashtra then.

But why is INC Kerala getting so worked up about infrastructure in Maharashtra?, (Sic)."

For the unversed, here is the advertisement that features Rashmika Mandanna.