Latur, Maharashtra: Continuing a sharp attack on BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi Monday termed the Gujarat model of development a “toffee model”, saying poor farmers’ land was being sold to industrialists at throwaway rates — or the price of a toffee.
“In Gujarat, Adani gets land for just Rs1 [Dh.061], the same amount of money for which you can buy a toffee. It’s a toffee model,” he said, addressing a massive election rally in this Maharashtra town.
Gandhi alleged that in Gujarat only one industrialist was benefiting at the cost of the poor farmers and labourers who are dying of hunger.
“One out of every two children starves in Gujarat ... This is the Gujarat Model the BJP keeps talking about,” he said adding that the Gujarat development balloon would burst soon.
Gandhi said that earlier there was a partnership in the Bharatiya Janata Party between Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani but “now, a new leader has emerged — Narendra Modi. Now there is partnership between Modi and Adani”.
He accused Modi of giving away 45,000 acres of land — the size of Maharashtra’s Aurangabad city — at just Rs3 billion, or at the rate of Rs1 per metre.
Besides, Gandhi said that a loan of Rs100 billion was given to build the Nano car — an amount more than what was spent on health and education in Gujarat.
Ridiculing the BJP’s claims on women empowerment, Gandhi said that 20,000 women are “missing” in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh. Gujarat’s state police machinery was used to tap phone calls of a woman, while women in a Bengaluru pub were beaten up by BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers when BJP was in power in Karnataka, he added.
Gandhi repeated his charge that the BJP reproduced the Congress manifesto. “They simply erased the Congress’ hand symbol and replaced it with their lotus,” he alleged.
“Their manifesto speaks of fighting corruption, but has not suggested any ways to tackle it. We had six bills in parliament to fight corruption, but they did not allow us to pass them,” he said.
