A group of legislators led by senior Ministers from Congress-ruled Kerala will head to Narendra Modi-ruled Gujarat next week to study urban development initiatives undertaken there. The tour is scheduled at a time when the Congress is going all guns blazing in a bid to puncture BJP’s claim over the Gujarat model of development.
Their tour to Gujarat comes close on the heels of the Congress releasing a 32-page document carrying statistics about the State’s performance under Modi on various paradigms. Union Minister Kapil Sibal had called Modi’s State as “most indebted State of India”. The tour is being organised by Kerala legislative Assembly Subject Committee on local Administration, Rural Development and Housing, in which legislators from Congress, CPI (M), Muslim league, Kerala Congress-Mani, CPI and National Secular Conference are members.
The 11-member team headed by State Rural Development Minister KC Joseph, Finance Minister KM Mani, Urban and Minority Affairs Minister Manjalamkuzhi Ali and Panchayat and Social Welfare Minister MK Muneer will reach Surat on December 12 where it will hold discussions with State Government officials on implementation of sewage system in the city. The legislators will also visit “some places of tourist importance” in Surat before heading for New Delhi the next day.
While Joseph is a senior Congress leader, Mani is the head of the Kerala Congress (Mani), a minority Christian offshoot and key ally of Kerala’s ruling United Democratic Front (UDF). Ali and Muneer belong to the Muslim league. K Achuthan (Congress), C Mammootty (Muslim league), PTA Rahim (National Secular Conference), V Sivankutty, P Sreemakrishnan, K V Vijayadas (CPI-M) and E K Vijayan (CPI) are also part of the committee.