 "Modi's claim of 24-hour power to farmers false: Kejriwal")
Aam Adami Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who was on a four-day visit to Gujarat, tore into Narendra Modi government’s development claims while addressing a huge rally on Sunday at Bapunagar in Ahmedabad. Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s prime ministerial candidate in no unclear terms, kejriwal went on to accuse Modi of being a property dealer for Ambani and Adani.
Referring to a solar park set up in Gujarat, Kejriwal said BJP leaders bought the land in advance knowing the Gujarat government’s plan to establish the solar park. “Shankar Chaudhary and other BJP leaders bought land from farmers for a few thousand rupees an acre. They later sold the same land to the Gujarat government for Rs 27 lakh an acre,” Kejriwal said.
This is what Robert Vadra does, and Modi is doing the same in Gujarat, Kejriwal said alleging “the Haryana CM is not a CM but a property dealer for Robert Vadra. Similarly, the Gujarat chief minister is not the CM of Gujarat, but a property dealer for Ambani and Adani”.
On corruption, Kejriwal said, “Modi claims that corruption has reduced in Gujarat. He is lying. Corruption in Gujarat has, in fact, increased. If Modi becomes the prime minister of India, corruption will not stop.”
The AAP national leader also took a dig at Modi on a number of issues, including subsidies given to industrial houses, injustice to farmers and his (Modi’s) claims about round-the-clock power for farmers, among other things.
“A rosy picture has been created in Gujarat over the last one year that Modi has done some miracle. I travelled through 26 districts of Gujarat. People of Gujarat are good, they are industrious and want to live peacefully. Whatever has happened in Gujarat is because of the people of Gujarat and not because of Modi. He has done nothing. People in Gujarat want change,” he said.
Refuting the claims of 24-hour power given to farmers in Gujarat, he said he had spoken to farmers during his visit and in some regions the farmers told him that they get power for only three hours. “Modi is lying that farmers get 24 hours electricity,” he said, claiming that as many as 4,50,000 farmers have not received electricity connection in Gujarat thought they had applied for the same several years back.
Kejriwal also said that earlier farmers in Gujarat used to get subsidy for purchasing tractors, etc. Modi stopped the subsidy. However, Modi government gave huge subsidy to Tata for setting up a plant for manufacturing Nano in Gujarat.
Kejriwal accused the Modi government of giving farmers’ land to Ambani and Adani at throwaway prices. “There has to be some relation between the BJP and Ambani and Adani,” he alleged.
Kejriwal challenged Modi for an open discussion.
Kejriwal said, “The 40 million square meter land given to Adani in Mundra actually belonged to a government land bank that was formed to provide 100 yards of land each to small and marginal farmers in the area. After Modi became the chief minister, the scheme was scrapped, and the land was given to industrialist Adani.”
Refuting Modi’s tall claims on 11 per cent growth in agriculture in the state, Kejriwal provided figures to show that agriculture growth in Gujarat has actually been in a negative terrain last fiscal. From a Rs 27,815 crore agricultural output in 2011-12, the agri output actually dipped to Rs 25,908 crore in 2012-13, he claimed. Nearly 800 farmers have committed suicide in Gujarat in the last 10 years, together with 60,000 small scale industrial units shutting shop during the same period. Over 1.5 million people are unemployed in the state, said Kejriwal, adding that these were government statistics. “If the country got to know about the state of the youth in Gujarat, not a single youth would vote for Modi,” Kejriwal said.
Referring to a solar park set up in Gujarat, Kejriwal said BJP leaders bought the land in advance knowing the Gujarat government’s plan to establish the solar park. “Shankar Chaudhary and other BJP leaders bought land from farmers for a few thousand rupees an acre. They later sold the same land to the Gujarat government for Rs 27 lakh an acre,” Kejriwal said.
This is what Robert Vadra does, and Modi is doing the same in Gujarat, Kejriwal said alleging “the Haryana CM is not a CM but a property dealer for Robert Vadra. Similarly, the Gujarat chief minister is not the CM of Gujarat, but a property dealer for Ambani and Adani”.
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When contacted, spokepersons of Reliance Industries Limited and Adani declined to comment.
On corruption, Kejriwal said, “Modi claims that corruption has reduced in Gujarat. He is lying. Corruption in Gujarat has, in fact, increased. If Modi becomes the prime minister of India, corruption will not stop.”
The AAP national leader also took a dig at Modi on a number of issues, including subsidies given to industrial houses, injustice to farmers and his (Modi’s) claims about round-the-clock power for farmers, among other things.
“A rosy picture has been created in Gujarat over the last one year that Modi has done some miracle. I travelled through 26 districts of Gujarat. People of Gujarat are good, they are industrious and want to live peacefully. Whatever has happened in Gujarat is because of the people of Gujarat and not because of Modi. He has done nothing. People in Gujarat want change,” he said.
Refuting the claims of 24-hour power given to farmers in Gujarat, he said he had spoken to farmers during his visit and in some regions the farmers told him that they get power for only three hours. “Modi is lying that farmers get 24 hours electricity,” he said, claiming that as many as 4,50,000 farmers have not received electricity connection in Gujarat thought they had applied for the same several years back.
Kejriwal also said that earlier farmers in Gujarat used to get subsidy for purchasing tractors, etc. Modi stopped the subsidy. However, Modi government gave huge subsidy to Tata for setting up a plant for manufacturing Nano in Gujarat.
Kejriwal accused the Modi government of giving farmers’ land to Ambani and Adani at throwaway prices. “There has to be some relation between the BJP and Ambani and Adani,” he alleged.
Kejriwal challenged Modi for an open discussion.
Kejriwal said, “The 40 million square meter land given to Adani in Mundra actually belonged to a government land bank that was formed to provide 100 yards of land each to small and marginal farmers in the area. After Modi became the chief minister, the scheme was scrapped, and the land was given to industrialist Adani.”
Refuting Modi’s tall claims on 11 per cent growth in agriculture in the state, Kejriwal provided figures to show that agriculture growth in Gujarat has actually been in a negative terrain last fiscal. From a Rs 27,815 crore agricultural output in 2011-12, the agri output actually dipped to Rs 25,908 crore in 2012-13, he claimed. Nearly 800 farmers have committed suicide in Gujarat in the last 10 years, together with 60,000 small scale industrial units shutting shop during the same period. Over 1.5 million people are unemployed in the state, said Kejriwal, adding that these were government statistics. “If the country got to know about the state of the youth in Gujarat, not a single youth would vote for Modi,” Kejriwal said.