The BJP’s Mumbai unit on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the EC, seeking action against the Father Frazer Mascarenhas, the principal of Mumbai’s St Xavier’s College, for allegedly trying to influence young voters against the BJP through an email that picked holes in Narendra Modi’s Gujarat model of development, and exhorting them to “choose well”.
“The approaching elections have brought an interesting discussion to the public forum on what constitutes human development and how it is to be achieved. The Gujarat model has been highlighted for our consideration. That is very apt because it puts in stark contrast two current views. Is the growth of big business, the making of huge profits, the achievement of high production – what we seekIJ Or is it the quality of life for the majority in terms of affordable basic goods and services and the freedom to take forward the cultural aspirations of our plural social groups that make up IndiaIJ Gujarat may be doing well in the first sense, although not as good as some other States in the country,” the appeal stated.
“But all the Human Development Index indicators and the cultural polarisation of the population show that Gujarat has had a terrible experience in the last 10 years,” the appeal stated.