GUWAHATI, Dec 3 - Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said the trouncing the BJP received at the panchayat polls in Gujarat is a clear indication that the much-hyped Gujarat model of development is a dismal failure.
In a statement, the Chief Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi�s much-touted Gujarat model of development has been a dismal failure as people in the rural areas have outrightly rejected it in the just-concluded panchayat elections. �There is disenchantment everywhere with people rejecting the BJP at one place after another. Delhi, Uttarakhand, Bihar and now Gujarat panchayat elections have proved that the people have become alienated from the BJP and are fed up with its promises, during just one and a half years of its rule at the Centre,� Gogoi said, adding that Prime Minister Modi, instead of letting people know his mann (thoughts), must listen to people�s mann ki baat.
Gogoi said the Gujarat model has thoroughly exposed the fact that the model is meant for the rich, not for the poor. �Eighty per cent of the populace of our country live in the rural areas. The people living in rural areas of Gujarat have made the BJP bite the dust in the panchayat elections as they have realised that the BJP government is for the rich and affluent and not for the poor,� he said.
The Chief Minister further said that the Modi-led government is pro-rich and corporate-centric, leaving the poor in the lurch. �The BJP-led government talks of inclusive development, but how can it be inclusive if poor people are left out of the scheme of things,� Gogoi argued, adding that his government, unlike the BJP, focuses on smart villages and not smart cities.
