Modi-ji, don’t try to fool India, says Rahul Gandhi in Bihar

Kishanganj / Bihar – At a rally in Kishanganj, Bihar, Rahul Gandhi made a rare direct reference to his political opponent, Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat who is running for Prime Minister.

“Modi-ji, don’t try to fool India,” the young Congress vice-president said, alleging that the Gujarat model of development, offered as Mr Modi’s top qualification for Prime Minister, is exaggerated and misleading.

“For every Nano car that is built in Gujarat, the government there spends Rs. 40,000 to Tatas (the makers). This is the money of the people of Gujarat,” Mr Gandhi alleged, repeating earlier claims that Mr Modi sacrifices the interest of the common man for big business in his home state.

Mr Modi had also provided Rs. 10,000 crore loan to Tata Motors for its Nano car project at 0.1 per cent interest, while the common man gets loan from banks at 12 per cent interest, claimed Gandhi.

“For every Nano car, the Gujarat government is providing Rs. 40,000 assistance,” Mr Gandhi said.

“The total budget of the Gujarat government on education, health and other welfare is less than Rs. 10,000 crore,” he asserted

With Mr Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, the BJP is expected to win the most seats in the national election that ends on May 12.

Results will be counted on May 16.

Mr Modi, 64, has been wooing voters by promising to get India out of its slowest economic growth in a decade and by pointing to his track record of cutting red tape and attracting investment in his four terms as chief minister of Gujarat.

Mr Gandhi is fronting the Congress campaign and is grappling with predictions of one of the party’s worst-ever performances.

“You get a toffee at Re 1, but Modi gave away 44,000 acre land at Rs. 1 per metre,” he said recently. “This is not a Gujarat Model, this is a toffee model,” he claimed.

At rallies recently, Mr Gandhi has belittled Gujarat’s development as a “toffee model” of economic advancement.

Today, he told voters in Bihar that they should not be taken in by talk of the Gujarat model.

“In Bihar, you need a Bihar model…that will work here. There is no shortage of a model here. What you need is a government that will help you implement it.”