Gandhi scion slams Gujarat’s model of development
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday came out with a direct attack against BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi by accusing him of giving land equal to the size of Vadodara at throwaway prices and also the Gujarat coastline of the size of Mumbai coastline to an industrial house, apparently hinting at the Adani Group. He claimed that the Vadodara-sized land was sold for just Rs 300 crore.
In an interview to Aaj Tak news channel, he also charged Modi with favouring just two-three industrialists, one of whose turnover, he said, has grown from “Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore”.
Rahul did not name the Adani Group, but alluded to it when specifically asked during the interview whether he was referring to the industrial house. He said he will not take names. The Congress has been pointing fingers at Modi’s proximity with the Group.
Attacking Modi’s Gujarat model, Rahul said, “When Gujarat grew, it was because of the small industries, because of cooperative movements like Amul and that is its strength. Now you see the Gujarat model, the turnover of one industrialist has grown from Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore.”
He said, “Modi’s economic model is that the entire money of the State should be given to two-three persons. This mindset is also dangerous for the country. I keep fighting against such a mindset.”
Claiming that the BJP has a better marketing strategy due to its proximity with a few industrial houses, Rahul further slammed the Gujarat model of development saying the textile industry of the State has been shattered, number of labour disputes are rising and people are malnourished.
“Their (Modi’s) focus is on benefitting three-four industrialists so that there is trickle-down effect. Trickle-down effect happened in the US also and it has gone bust,” he said. He claimed that the UPA Government headed by Manmohan Singh had performed better than NDA even though there was slowdown in growth briefly because of global recession. He admitted there would be a little bit of anti-incumbency since the party is in power for 10 years.
“Narendra Modi is a person. He has his issues. I have nothing to do with that. But he represents an ideology. This ideology pits one Indian against another Indian. That is dangerous for the country. My fight is against this ideology.”
On the issue of corruption, he said it is a “reality” but it is time to stop talking and start action against it by building institutional frameworks. He said the BJP manifesto talks about corruption but “show me one line which says what it will do... Talking is one thing, doing is another thing.”