Development work in Gujarat done with central funds: Sibal

Without taking Modi's name, the Telecom Minister says somebody wins thrice in his state and thinks he is a contender for the PM post

In a veiled criticism of Gujarat Chief Minster Narendra Modi, Union Minister Kapil Sibal today said development works in the state were being implemented using central funds and he had not done "anything significant".

Without taking Modi's name, the Telecom Minister said somebody wins thrice in his state and thinks he is a contender for the post of Prime Minister.

"There, somebody wins three times and thinks he is a contender. And he has not done anything significant there, whatever has been done is through central funds," Sibal said after inaugurating road projects in Ballimaran Assembly seat.

Comparing him with Sheila Dikshit, he said the Delhi Chief Minister will be voted to power for the fourth consecutive time when the Assembly polls take place this year as her connect with people is "unparallelled".

"Sheila Dikshit builds roads, ensures connectivity, but the way she connects with the hearts is unparallelled. This is why I can declare today that Sheila Dikshit is coming to power for the fourth time in November this year because she is no less than Tendulkar," he said.

Dikshit, who also addressed the gathering, said her government won here thrice because it has delivered on its promises. "There are so many other Chief Ministers, many states which beat huge trumpets, some even project themselves not only as Chief Ministers but as Prime Minister even before elections," she said in an apparent reference to Modi.

About the development works done under her tenure, she said, "You can see world's number two airport in Delhi, and you can see a Metro which has no parallel anywhere. Even foreigners come to see how it transports 20-22 lakh people every day.

"You can see electricity. There are a lot of youths here who don't even remember that there used to be eight to nine hour power outages in Delhi once. It is the pledge of our government that the first thing that we want to ensure is 24 hour power availability and we have done that," she said.

Referring to allegations by BJP and Aam Aadmi Party over power issues, she said people will try to "instigate you" saying the bills are inflated.

"Let me tell you that you cannot compare bills for 24 hour power supply to that of 8 hours," she said.