Gujarat growth looks grand as state was backward: Badal

In a statement that contradicts the much-hyped Gujarat model of development being projected by the NDA to promote its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday said the development in Gujarat looked grand as the Modi-governed state till a few years ago was quite backward.

In a statement that contradicts the much-hyped Gujarat model of development being projected by the NDA to promote its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday said the development in Gujarat looked grand as the Modi-governed state till a few years ago was quite backward.


The chief minister who was here to address a meeting of industrialists to garner support for Pawan Tinu, the local party candidate, in reply to a question, failed to support his repeated allegation that the Congress at the Centre meted out indifferent treatment to the oppositionruled states, including Punjab.

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“When Gujarat achieved success, Punjab had already touched the saturation point. We were number one in education and many other sectors.

Since Gujarat was far behind us in the development ranking, when it progressed under Modi, it looked grand to everyone,” said the chief minister in reply to the question as to why Punjab failed to carry on the development whereas Gujarat led by Modi emerged as the model for development.

But, he avoided the question that if it was so, what was the need to project the Gujarat model of development in Punjab as the role model for others. “What lies in such debates? Please don’t ask negative questions,” Badal said.

The CM tried to protect Vijay Sampla, the BJP candidate from Hoshiarpur, who has courted a controversy. “Who is clean in elections, nowadays? You know everything. Leave this topic and focus on Modi,” he said.