Gogoi, APCC mock 'Gujarat Model'

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Dec 4: Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the defeat of the BJP in the Gujarat civic body is a clear indication that the much-hyped ‘Gujarat Model of Development’ is a dismal failure.

In a statement, the Chief Minister said Prime Minister rendra Modi’s much-touted ‘Gujarat Model of Development’ has been a dismal failure as people in the rural areas have rejected it outright in the just-concluded panchayat elections. “There is disenchantment everywhere with people rejecting the BJP. Delhi, Uttarakhand, Bihar and now Gujarat panchayat elections have proved that the people have become alieted from the BJP and are fed up with its promises during just one-and-a-half years of its rule at the Centre,” Gogoi said.

Gogoi said the ‘Gujarat Model’ has thoroughly exposed the fact that the model is meant for the rich, not for the poor. “80 per cent of the populace of our country lives in the rural areas.  The people living in rural areas of Gujarat have made the BJP to bite the dust in the panchayat elections as they have realized that the BJP Government is for the rich and affluent, and not for the poor,” he said.

“The BJP-led Government talks of inclusive development, but how can it be inclusive if poor people are left out of the scheme of things,” Gogoi said, adding that his Government, unlike the BJP, focuses on smart villages and not smart cities.

Meanwhile, the APCC too mocked the ‘Gujarat Model’ and said that the false propaganda of the BJP has been exposed from where it began. In a statement issued on behalf of APCC, vice president Ripun Bora said, “The BJP now exists in only a few cities. It has lost its grip in rural areas even in a State like Gujarat. In Vadodara, from where the Prime Minister himself contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, out of 20 seats 18 were bagged by the Congress. This clearly indicates that rendra Modi has now lost his popularity.”