Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday challenged Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to debate on the issue of development with statistics. He said people in the country were being misguided on the issue of Gujarat model of development whereas Haryana was a front runner State.
Addressing public meeting during his rathyatra, he said Gujarat model is only a showpiece, adding that Modi would have to see himself development taking place in the different parts of Haryana. Hooda claimed that in Gujarat, farmers are being supplied electricity at 27 times higher rate as compared to that of Haryana. He questioned if Modi was projecting himself as pro-farmer why did not he supply electricity to the farmers at a economical rate.
Hooda said that while in Gujarat the old age allowance is Rs 400 per month, it is Rs 1,000 in Haryana. The Chief Minister said Haryana was ahead of Gujarat in the areas of giving wages to MANREGA workers, rate of sugarcane and wheat, production of mustard, Bajra and yield of milk. Not only this as compared to Gujarat, even diesel is cheaper in Haryana by Rs 8 per litre. Also, petrol is cheaper by more than Rs 6 per litre.
Referring to sports, Hooda said that Gujarat was no parallel to Haryana because the sportspersons of Haryana have bagged several medals in international events like Olympics and Commonwealth Games. He advocated the implementation of Haryana model of development in the country.