The BJP says targeting industrialists 'close' to Modi to hit investments in state. |
Industrialists have largely remained untouched by any power shift in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat. This election, however, seems to be different. |
For the first time in Gujarat, one of India's most industrialised states, industrialists are an anxious lot. With the "chief minister of paanch crorepatis" campaign, Congress leaders are putting pressure on leading industrial groups with interests in Gujarat not to align with Chief Minister Narendra Modi of the BJP. |
The Congress has unleashed a campaign accusing Modi of favouring industrial houses. So, if Modi chose to make "mara paanch crore Gujaratis" (My five crore Gujaratis) "" which he recently changed to 'sada paanch crore Gujaratis (five-and-a-half crore Gujaratis), his favourite punch-line during his stint as the chief minister "" the Congress got back by tweaking the punch-line a bit. |
While textiles minister in the UPA government, Shankersinh Vaghela, has been talking about an industrial group's proximity to Modi, Congress Legislative Party leader Arjun Modhwadia has cautioned business houses who are "going out of the way to help Modi". |
"The government has gone out of the way to favour a group by allotting land at a concessional rate," Vaghela told a gathering on Thursday. He also warned industrial houses which are close to Modi. |
While nobody seems to know who these "paanch crorepatis" are "" corporate houses don't even want to discuss the issue "" the Congress leaders say there are many more. "We have coined this term because it alliterates with Modi's punch-line 'sada paanch crore Gujaratis'," said a senior Congress leader. |
"It's a bad precedence the Congress is setting. This will harm investments in the state," BJP leader and state Finance Minister Vajubhai Vala told Business Standard. |
Echoes BJP state president Purshottam Rupala: "It is sad and will set a wrong precedence." |
Modhwadia had some time ago come out with a list of corporate houses which had offered Modi their private planes. He had accused Modi of rewarding his favoured industrialists with Rs 15,000 crore from the public exchequer for the alleged free air travel. Quoting information gathered under the Right to Information Act, he alleged Modi undertook about 100 "free" air journeys within the country and abroad. |
The BJP's state in-charge, Om Mathur, says the Congress is stooping so low because it is sure it will not win. "Until now, this type of witch-hunting was limited to some other states. Gujarat was by and large untouched by this. But this time it is changing because of this Congress campaign," he told Business Standard. |