Vibrant Gujarat Summit Modi's 'self-marketing tool': Cong

Congress today rubbished the claims made by the state government about the success of Vibrant Gujarat Summits in attracting investment and creation of jobs, and said the reality was different and that the event was used for "self-marketing" by Narendra Modi when he started it as the chief minister of the state.
BJP hit back, saying Congress leaders were showing narrow-mindedness by opposing Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit.
Senior Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela today said the states which do not organise such grand events were actually ahead of Gujarat in attracting investment.
Modi as the Gujarat Chief Minister started this initiative in 2003 for "self-marketing", Vaghela said.

"All the Vibrant Summits held till now were meant for his self-marketing, not for attracting any investment. Even today, Gujarat is very poor. We are not at all developed. We are behind even states like Bihar in some sectors. Each child in Gujarat is born with a debt of Rs 35,000," he said.
"States such as Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra which do not organise such events are way ahead of us in attracting investment. After the tall claims of creation of millions of jobs due to Summits, over 60 lakh youths in Gujarat are still unemployed," said the Leader of Opposition in Assembly.

Vaghela said as a protest he would not attend the inaugural session on January 10 when the Prime Minister would launch the 8th edition of the Summit in Gandhinagar.

"Of all MoUs signed in all summits, valued at Rs 14 lakh
crore by the government, only 4 per cent materialised. In a recent report, RBI stated that Gujarat is not in the top 16 states in terms of attracting investment. States like Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are way ahead of us," said Solanki.
Gujarat BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya hit back at the opposition party, saying Congress was trying to obstruct the opportunities coming to Gujarat.

"Congress leaders have shown their narrow mindset by opposing the Vibrant Summit which is very crucial for providing jobs to youths... Job creation is possible only if new investment comes. Despite that, Congress is trying to block such opportunities coming to our state," said Pandya.
Yesterday, state chief secretary J N Singh had claimed that Gujarat was at the top position in employment generation as over 13.45 lakh persons had got jobs in the state in the last three years, and Vibrant Gujarat Summits played a big role in this.