Modi got GCCI to foot fast bill: Oppn

However, GCCI office bearers feigned ignorance about the alleged Rs 89 lakh bill, reports Rathin Das.

Last month, when Narendra Modi went on a quick-fix fast, he issued full page advertisements announcing his resolve to go ahead with the Narmada dam. Now, those ads have come back to haunt him.

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Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Arjun Modhvadia has alleged that Modi got the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI) to foot the bill for the ads.

But since these advertisements were not issued through the state government’s information department, the bills -- totaling Rs 89 lakh -- have now allegedly been sent to the GCCI.

In his letter to Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma, Modhvadhia said the Modi administration was using pressure tactics to extract money from industrial houses. Whenever Modi planned extravagant programmes like his ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ campaign, he coerced some industrialist or the other into footing the publicity bills, the Leader of Opposition said.

He said small industrialists are often threatened if they refuse to pay. “This demand from business houses is nothing but seeking ransom,” he told the Hindustan Times.