BJP govt in Gujarat legitimised corruption, alleges Manish Tewari

Congress leader Manish Tewari on Wednesday accused the BJP government of legitimising corruption in Gujarat and dubbed it a "dangerous sign" for democracy.

With the Gujarat assembly elections round the corner, Congress has started agressively attacking the BJP who has been in power in the state for the last 27 years and the recent Morbi incident has provided an opportunity to the grand old party to accuse the Bhupendra Patel-led government in Gujarat for "legitimising corruption".

Citing the recent Morbi incident that took place in the state which claimed the lives of over 130 people, the Congress leader said that the BJP has become "arrogant" as they(BJP) think they cannot be removed from power.

"You (BJP) legitimised corruption, and then you say that you want to implement this model in the entire country. The legitimisation of corruption is a dangerous sign for democracy," he said while urging people of the state to "break this arrogance" in the upcoming Assembly elections by "dethroning BJP ".

Addressing a press conference here, Tewari said, "If such a tragedy had taken place in some other state and 141 innocent people would have died, over 180 people would have been injured, would the responsibility would not have been set? Would nobody have resigned? Gujarat High Court is slamming the state government daily."

Questioning the BJP government for not arresting the real culprit behind the tragic morbi incident, he said, "The Supreme Court also said that the Gujarat High Court needs to keep a close eye on the incident. Who were the people who were arrested? The ticket seller, normal workers. The big fishes like the ones who are wealthy, the one who was given the contract, why aren't they being arrested? Because the government has become arrogant."

"They feel that no matter how they behave with the public, their (BJP) government will be formed again. I want to urge the people of Gujarat that there is a need to break this arrogance. BJP got the chance again in 2017. In five years, three chief ministers were changed. What can be a bigger proof than this of a government's failure?" he added.

The Congress leaders also took a swipe at the BJP-led government over the change of chief ministers in the state in the last five years, and said that there cannot be a bigger example of "failure of governance" than this.

"What can be a bigger governance failure than this that three chief ministers were needed to be ousted? The people will decide what will happen with the fourth chief minister," he added.

The BJP changed three chief ministers in the last five years. The party had made Vijay Rupani the chief minister before the 2017 Assembly elections in the state replacing Anandiben Patel, the first female chief minister of Gujarat. Rupani continued at the office before being replaced by Bhupendra Patel in September last year.

Detailing the shortcomings of the state government, the Congress leader alleged that Gujarat "suffered the most during the COVID pandemic".

"Gujarat suffered the most during the COVID pandemic. Today Gujarat has a debt of Rs 2,98,810 crore. The unemployment rate of youths between 20 to 24 years of age is 12.50 per cent. This is probably the highest in the entire country," he said.

The Gujarat Assembly polls will be held on December 1 and 5, and the counting of votes will take place on December 8.