Gujarat's growth story under Narendra Modi not real, says Congress

AHMEDABAD: The projection of Gujarat as a vibrant model of economic growth by the ruling BJP is far from reality, Congress MP and former Union Minister Girija Vyas said today.

"There are two types of Gujarat, actual and mythical. The State which has been projected for the past 10 years is far away from the real, actual state," said former Chairperson of National Commission for Women (NCW) while addressing the media here.

She was here to campaign for her party for the next month's Assembly election.

Vyas claimed Gujarat under the Narendra Modi Government has never achieved a growth rate beyond 8 per cent and only once it reached 10 per cent.

"...whereas under the Congress Chief Ministers Madhavsinh Solanki, Amarsinh Chaudhary and Chimanbhai Patel, the state had clocked growth rate of 16.69, 14 and 17 per cent, respectively."

Vyas, Editor of 'Congress Sandesh', the party mouthpiece, alleged Modi has succeeded in hiding the reality of lower growth , but "this is not going to last long."

"I can only say you can fool some people sometimes, but you can't fool all the people all the time."

Asked about the arrest of two Mumbai girls for a post on a social networking site questioning shutdown in the financial capital for Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray's funeral, she said, "police could have handled the case with patience. At the same time girls could have restrained themselves as Balasaheb is admired by scores of people."

Vyas earlier addressed an election rally in Anand.