The Congress Party launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on May 1, alleging that the much-touted “Gujarat Model” has failed to deliver justice to the people of Gujarat. The party also raised concerns about Gujarat becoming the epicentre of paper leaks in India.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh posed a series of questions in a social media post on X to the Prime Minister ahead of his electoral campaign in Gujarat. “Why has Gujarat become India’s paper leak capital? Who is the Prime Minister protecting by not acting on corruption allegations in the Nal Se Jal scheme? Why has the ‘Gujarat Model’ failed to deliver justice to Gujarat’s people?”
Ramesh highlighted that Gujarat has witnessed 14 paper leaks in the last decade, including the GPSC Chief Officer’s Paper in 2014, Talati Paper in 2015 and 2016 and several others up to the Junior Clerk exam in 2023. He pointed out that the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh confirmed that this year’s infamous UP police recruitment examination leak was orchestrated from Ahmedabad. Ramesh questioned why the Prime Minister’s home state has become a hotbed for paper leaks.
The Congress leader also drew attention to the party’s Nyay Patra, which guarantees freedom from paper leaks, with foolproof institutions and policies to prevent such incidents, fast-track courts to adjudicate paper leak cases and monetary compensation to all victims. He challenged the Prime Minister to share his vision to ensure that the youth of Gujarat and India never face such injustices again.
Ramesh also referred to allegations of widespread corruption in the Prime Minister’s flagship “Nal Se Jal” scheme in Gujarat. Last year, the Deputy Speaker of the Gujarat assembly had sought an Anti-Corruption Bureau probe into the matter, alleging large-scale corruption by private contractors in collusion with government officials.
“These allegations of corruption were ignored by the BJP high command. Who is the BJP trying to protect in this scandal? Why has the PM refused to take any actions against the accused?” questions Ramesh.
As the Prime Minister returned to his home state, Ramesh urged him to address the shortcomings of the “Gujarat Model.” He cited the “National Multidimensional Poverty Index” Report, which revealed Gujarat’s poor performance on health, education and standard of living indicators.
With nearly half of Gujarat’s rural population remaining malnourished and eight out of ten children under five being anaemic, Ramesh questioned whether PM Modi will address these issues and why the central and state governments have failed to deliver justice to Gujarat’s people.
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