Sibal says Modi is anti-development and anti-Gujarat
New Delhi, Dec 8: Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal has joined the growing bandwagon of critics of the BJP Government in Gujarat, which is led by Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The political battle for Gujarat is heating up. On Friday, key protagonists for next week"s two-phased Assembly elections in the state traded charges without hesitation or qualm.
If an under attack Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was at his Hindutva best at an election rally in Sevaliya in Kheda District, where he charged the Congress-led UPA Government of wantonly dishonouring and bypassing the Supreme Court on issues of national sentiment and interest, there was a strong rebuttal from the Prime Minister and Congress leader, Dr. Manmohan Singh, who took the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to task for describing the Congress as "anti-Hindu".
Dr. Singh, who visited Surat and Rajkot in the run-up to next week"s polls, said: "The Congress has a history of 120 years. The Congress party is a gift of great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhai Patel. I think to accuse the Congress of any communal bias is an insult to the memory of our freedom struggle."
On Modi"s charge that the Congress was anti-Hindu, he replied: "Somebody is now trying to paint the Congress party in wrong colours. It is a measure of the fear and the uncertain future that faces them. This is a sign of weakness and not a sign of strength.
Sibal described Modi as anti-development, anti-Gujarat, anti-people and the man in whose name and at whose behest most of the fake encounters in the state had taken place.
In an exclusive interview to sources here, Sibal said: “The reality of Modi"s vibrant Gujarat was that it was a vanishing Gujarat," and added that he had and would continue to challenge the Chief Minister to come on any platform anywhere to debate any issue that he and the BJP was championing in Gujarat.
“The Congress Party"s strategy is very simple. We are ready to talk about how Modi as Chief Minister has performed, and how he has not delivered on any front. Modi in his campaign has said that he would discuss development in his election campaign. We accepted the challenge. We would like to take him on development issues, whether agriculture, industry, water, Narmada and health. Modi is refusing to discuss these issues. He is only giving statistics, much of which is unrelated to realities," said Sibal.
Commenting
on
Modi"s
claim
that
Gujarat"s
economy
had
grown
by
12.17
percent
in
fiscal
2006-07
and
that
this
was
three
percent
higher
than
the
national
average,
Sibal
said
that
the
socio-economic
review
of
the
state
had
exposed
this
statistic
as
nothing
but
misinformation
that
pertained
not
to
2006-07
but
to
2005-06.
He further went on to say that as per the statistics of the Directorate of Economics and Statistics of the Government of Gujarat, the GDP growth of the state for 2006-07 was just 8.11 percent, which was well below the national average of 9.4 percent.
On the issue of public debt, Sibal said: “Gujarat one of the highest indebted states of the country, with an outstanding debt of around Rs.20, 000 per person."
He further went on to say that, as on March 31, 2006, the Gross Public Debt of the State was an estimated Rs.66925.83 crore, which was 30.89 percent of the GDP.
“When Modi took over as the Chief Minister in October 2000, the outstanding debt of the State was Rs.344.5 billion (34450 crores) Gujarat today is the worst indebted state in the country. The average per capita in Gujarat is over 21,000. The debt of the government is Rs.69 crore. The State is now paying Rs.6242 crores as interest per year. These are official figures of the Gujarat Government," said Sibal in the interview.
On the issue of foreign direct investment, Sibal said: "Modi repeatedly claims that Gujarat has one of the best physical and social infrastructures in the country for foreign investment. But it (Gujarat) still lags behind many states in terms of foreign direct investment."
When the minister was asked whether anti-incumbency and dissidence would have an effect on next week"s polls, he said: “There is an element of anti-incumbency. There is a vibrant Gujarat and a vanishing Gujarat, and even the vibrant Gujarat that he (Modi) talks about, even there, the figure is not something to be proud of. Look at the vibrant Gujarat, the number of engineering colleges. Such institutions are more in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Gujarat is far behind."
“Can
Modi
say
there
has
been
an
IT
revolution
in
Gujarat
or,
a
biotechnology
revolution
in
Gujarat,"
Sibal
added.
Reacting
to
Modi"s
charge
that
the
UPA
Government
had
deliberately
gone
slow
on
the
execution
of
Parliament
attack
convict
Afzal
Guru
in
spite
of
a
Supreme
Court
directive,
Sibal
told
ANI:
“When
the
NDA
was
in
power,
19
people
were
on
death
row.
Can
Modi
explain
why
they
were
not
executed?"
“Any
person
who
believes
in
Ram
(i..e.
Modi),
must
have
Ram
Rajya.
But,
at
hear,
Modi
is
a
non-believer.
Being
a
non-believer,
only
he
can
do
what
he
has
done
to
the
people
of
Gujarat,
the
migrants,
the
refugees
etc,"
said
Sibal.
With reference to the encounter killings in Gujarat, Sibal said that before the arrest and incarceration of senior Gujarat police officer and Modi loyalist D.G. Vanzara on April 25, 2007, 14 encounters had taken place in the state out of which, ten of them involved Vanzara.
This clearly established that Vanzara was Modi"s officer for such activities, Sibal said, adding after April 25, 2007, surprisingly there had been no encounters in the state.
“It is the Gujarat Government that filed an affidavit (relating to the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case). Modi must explain about what happened to Kauser Bi (Sohrabuddin"s wife), What happened to Prajapati? It was an act of grotesque constitutional impropriety."
Commenting
on
Sonia
Gandhi"s
statement
that
merchants
of
death
were
operating
Gujarat,
Sibal
said:
“
It
was
meant
for
the
manner
in
which
certain
state
functionaries
are
operating.
What
is
wrong
with
that?
This
is,
what
the
Gujarat
Government,
exhibited.
The
counsel
for
the
Gujarat
Government
(former
Supreme
Court
Justice
K.T.S.
Tulsi)
has
now
resigned,
saying
that
Mr.
Modi
should
not
have
said
it.
It
is
that
counsel
that
filed
the
affidavit
in
the
Supreme
Court,
saying
this
Vanzara
should
be
prosecuted.
And
of
course,
we
still
don't
know
where
Prajapati
is?
We
still
don't
know
what
happened
to
Kausar
Bi
(encounter
victim
Sohrabuddin"s
wife)?
And
they
talk
about
Ram?
If
you
(Modi)
want
to
talk
about
Ram,
then
let's
see
Ram
Rajya
in
Gujarat."
"The
Congress
Party
has
also
said,
we
believe
in
Ram.
When
did
the
Congress
Party
say,
that
it
didn't
believe
in
Ram.
Parties
can't
believe
in
gods,
individuals
can.
I'm
a
Hindu
and
I
believe
in
Ram.
Some
people
may
not,"
Sibal
added.
Sibal concluded by saying that every time he went to Gujarat, the issue of development was raised, but nobody joined in a debate on it. He said the figures being touted around by Chief Minister Modi were completely false, and that his real agenda was and continues to be the promotion of a “communal agenda".
“This should not happen in a democracy. It is very sad," Sibal concluded.
ANI
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