Modi govt issues rebuttal to Kejriwal's allegations on Gujarat development

Chooses to downplay accusation on gas pricing issue

For the first time Narendra Modi government in Gujarat has responded to allegations made by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on development and issued a point-by-point rebuttal, terming later’s claim blatant lies and publicity stunt.

Though the Gujarat government gave detailed response on allegations of land acquisition, farmer suicides, FDI and closure of SME units, it chose to refrain from going deep into the accusations on the gas pricing issue, and dismissed it as mere lies.

The rebuttal comes a day after Kejriwal announced that he would contest the Lok Sabha elections against Modi from temple town Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

Kejriwal has been alleging through out his election campaign in Gujarat as well as in other states that Modi’s tall claims on development in his state did not match up with the ground reality.

The AAP leader had extensively travelled in Gujarat early this month and had posed 16 questions on various issues including, health, education, farmer suicides, land acquisition among others.

Kejriwal had also alleged that Modi had recommended Central government to increase the price of gas from the K G Basin to Rs  16 per unit from present Rs  4 per unit. He had further claimed that this recommendation by Modi government was made to favour billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL).

Addressing a rally in Varanasi on Tuesday, Kejriwal had attacked Modi of being an “agent” of industrial houses and said land of farmers will be snatched and given to corporates if the latter comes to power at Centre.

The state government spokesperson in a statement issued here said that Kejriwal was lying blatantly to gain publicity. “Kejriwal and his men are facing the ire of the people wherever they go because they are indulging in politics of lies and have got entangled in their own net of falsehood,” the Gujarat government spokesperson said in a statement.

He further stated in the statement that allegations made by Kejriwal on gas pricing was ‘baseless’ and the AAP leader was trying to take credit of Supreme Court direction. “This has exposed his (Kejriwal’s) efforts to malign Modi government,” the statement added.

On accusation of forcible acquisition of land from farmers for industrial house, Gujarat government stated “Gujarat land acquisition policy has been praised by the Supreme Court. Under this policy the land is acquired with consent of the farmer and he is paid as per the prevailing market rate of land. Farmer agitation against land acquisition is prevalent in other state, but not in Gujarat. This is because of the farmer-oriented policy in the state.”

Kejriwal had alleged at the Varanasi rally that over 5,000 farmers have committed suicide in Gujarat over crop failure in the last 10 years. To this Gujarat government stated, “This is a blatant lie. During his visit to Gujarat, Kejriwal had claimed that 800 farmers had committed suicide in the last 10 years. He is so excited with forging figures that now he claims to over 5,000 farmers have committed suicides in Gujarat. The fact is only one farmer has committed suicide due to crop failure in the last 10 years.”

On allegations that Modi, if brought to power, will favour foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail, which in turn would harm the small shopkeepers. Modi government state that BJP has a clear stand that it opposes FDI in retail.

With regard to Kejriwal’s claim that over 60,000 SME units have closed down in Gujarat, the government stated, “This is another blatant lie. The truth is there are 0.51 million SME units registered in Gujarat out of which 95 per cent are operational.”