‘GDP growth thanks to BJP-ruled states’

Addressing a one-day conclave of chief ministers from BJP-ruled states, party president Nitin Gadkari showered praise on the attendees — quipping that ‘NDA’ now stands for ‘National Development Alliance’

Addressing a one-day conclave of chief ministers from BJP-ruled states, party president Nitin Gadkari showered praise on the attendees — quipping that ‘NDA’ now stands for ‘National Development Alliance’

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The conclave was held to discuss the effects of the current economic downturn, and ways to combat it.

Stating that all the NDA-ruled states had posted over 10% growth, Gadkari said that the UPA government — on the other hand – was facing a ‘policy paralysis’, and stood a good chance of falling off the chart on issues related to federalism.

Gadkari said that the debt-to-GDP ratio, which stood at 17% during the NDA regime, had gone up to 68%. Three BJP-ruled states — Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Jharkhand — were currently among the top six states in the country in terms of GDP growth, he added.

BJP CMs Narendra Modi, Raman Singh, Jagdish Shettar, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and PK Dhumal attended the meet, apart from Bihar deputy CM Sushil Modi. Jharkhand CM Arjun Munda could not make it to the meet due to illness.

“The present 6% GDP growth rate is maintained because of the growth in BJP-ruled states. All our states have GDP growth of over 10%,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

Gadkari charged the Centre of being devoid of leadership, vision, direction and commitment. Allegations that the Centre was treating non-Congress states in a stepmotherly fashion also cropped up.