New Delhi, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today
sought to take the wind out of 'Gujarat Model' saying Narendra Modi is Chief
Minister of an average state and the model being propagated by him was
"exaggerated and boastful".
"Gujarat is an average state. It has neither the best
performance, nor the worst performance. It lies somewhere in the middle,"
Chidambaram said while dismissing BJP's pitch of Gujarat model as
"exaggerated and boastful".Chidambaram, who gave detailed statistics
to show that it was not all milk and honey in the Modi-run state, said that it
ranked fifth in the Gross State Domestic Product compounded annual growth rate.
He said Gujarat ranks
15th in rural poverty head count in 2011-12, ninth in Human Development
Index, 22nd in the coverage of roads in 2011 and 10th in Households with
electricity.He also said that it ranks 12th in the literacy rate, 15 in the
social sector expenditure.
"Modi is Chief
Minister of an average state," the Finance Minister remarked when asked
whether he would call Modi Chief Minister of a "failed state or an average
state" given its performance on several indices.
He, however, deftly avoided a
question about Robert Vadra model of development being alleged by BJP while
targeting the son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi.
"If anybody wants
to call these models and compare them. I wish them well. But the real question
is whether there is any model called a Gujarat model".Responding to questions
about Congress leaders giving different figures of Modi's election expenditure
with Anand Sharma putting it at Rs 10,000 crore and Kapil Sibal at Rs 5,000
crore, he remarked in a lighter vein that he would put it in the middle at Rs
7,000 crore.He, however, hastened to add that there was no evidence"The
evidence is only observational evidence," he said, adding anyone who has
an experience of politics can guess after visiting a rally as to how much money
has been spent.
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