Congress, NCP to cite Rajan panel report to decry Gujarat model

The alliance will use the report to expose Modi's Gujarat claims

The ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance in Maharashtra is set to feature Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan in its campaign for the coming Lok Sabha elections. Both parties are determined to use a report by a Rajan-led panel to decry the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s claims of development in Gujarat.

In a report in September 2013, a panel led by Rajan, then chief economic advisor, ranked Gujarat 12th on the development index; the state also comes under the ‘less-developed’ category. Maharashtra, on the other hand, figured on the list of relatively-developed states, which also included Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa.

The Congress and the NCP plan attack the Modi-led government’s growth model in Gujarat, and pit it against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)’s model for inclusive growth.

The Congress-NCP alliance will also emphasise Maharashtra’s pre-eminence in attracting domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI) during 2000-2013. In terms of attracting FDI during this period, Maharashtra tops the list, attracting FDI of $63 billion, while Gujarat received FDI proposals of only $8 billion.

Speaking to Business Standard, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress committee spokesman Ratnakar Mahajan said, “Our focus will be to expose Modi on his misleading propaganda, especially with regard to the Gujarat model of development. We will justify out argument based on the Rajan-led committee’s objective report. After considering 10 indicators, Gujarat is ranked 12th, while Maharashtra is sixth.”

Further, the alliance partners will inform voters that Gujarat lags far behind in the human development index while the Modi-led government has provided land to few select industrial houses.

"The Modi government, however, has miserably failed to give remunerative price to the project affected land owners. But the the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 brought in by UPA government has come to the rescue of those land owners who could get hefty compensation," Mahajan said.

NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said the joint campaign will focus on UPA government's achievements in various sectors including agriculture.

"Due to series of policy decisions, agriculture growth has increased so also productivity and minimum support price of various crops paid to the farmers. Overall pro-farm policies have benefitted the farmers the most," he opined.

Mahajan shares Malik's views, saying that against the national target of 4%, the sector has grown at the record rate of 4.6%.

"India has become a major exporter of sugar, cotton, wheat and rice. We are the second largest exporter of wheat while number one exporter of rice at the global level. This has been achieved without impacting any domestic distribution," he added. Mahajan informed that the food security scheme and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme will also be projected during the campaigning in the state.

On the political front, both Mahajan and Malik said the Congress and NCP would emphasise on how UPA government is the need of the hour to protect India's secular fabric, unity and integrity.

"This election is between the two major forces, one led by BJP which is quite desperate to convert India into a Hindu Rashtra while the other led by Congress who is committed to maintain the country's secular fabric," Malik said.

Mahajan claims that BJP under Modi is known to play a divisive politics which will lead to a vertical split in the society on the religious lines. However, Congress-led UPA is the only alternative to keep India united.