If Modi becomes PM, corporates will run India like US: Gogoi

Guwahati, April 3: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said if his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi became prime minister, the government would be run by big corporates like that in the US.

"If Modi becomes prime minister, big corporates will be behind him. It will be a kind of corporate rule from back door, just like what happens in American democracy. It is going to be the most dangerous thing to Indian democracy," Gogoi told reporters here.

In addition to that, Modi government would be influenced by "RSS philosophy of dictatorship", he said. "We can see it even now - Modi is going to every election meeting in a private jet. Who is financing it? This belongs to Adanis," Gogoi alleged.

He further said even earlier when the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate was going on official trips as head of Gujarat government, Modi used to travel in private jets. "We also go to New Delhi and abroad, but not like him. We go in Indian Airlines or other airlines' planes, but not in a private jet," he said.

Gogoi claimed that Modi had appointed PR professionals from abroad to manage his publicity for the Lok Sabha elections. "His PR is being handled by an American company. His waistcoat, hairstyle, shoes, spectacles - everything is by designers. All of these are sponsored by corporates," he said.

Talking about the Gujarat model of growth, Gogoi said it would not be successful in Assam as Congress has been successfully working with an indigenous model.

"In 2004-05, the GSDP of Assam was 3.4 per cent, while it was 14.95 per cent in Gujarat. In 2012-13, Assam's GSDP jumped to 6.6 per cent, but Gujarat's fell to 7.96 per cent. Which model should I take? If we had adopted Gujarat model, our GSDP would have fallen to 1.5 per cent," he said.

PTI