Senior Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has said that contrary to the picture being painted by the ruling BJP in Gujarat, the State’s economic condition is not so vibrant. “In fact, it is in a bad shape,” he said.

Gujarat is to vote in two phases on 09th and 14th December to vote a new Assembly even as the BJP makes a strong bid to storm the State Secretariat for a record fifth successive term. Chidambaram was addressing a meeting organized by the Gujarat Chamber of Industries and Commerce when he made the above-said remarks.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the proposed ‘Bullet train’ scheme linking Mumbai and Ahmedabad, Chidambaram said that BJP was taking arbitrary actions on its own as it enjoys a simple majority in Parliament. “Had we been endowed with such a majority status during the erstwhile Congress-led UPA’s rule at the Centre from 2004-14, we would have overhauled the Finance Ministry and implemented a better GST,” he said.

“BJP in Gujarat has projected a wrong picture of excellent economic growth; Gujarat’s growth is in fact lesser than that of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. It has been on the decline after 2012-13. Per capita income is also less; the society’s expenditure is around 66.76%, which is far less as compared to the States of Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.  Literacy rate is also not so encouraging.

“Poverty rate and child mortality is on the rise; even the male-female proportion is less as it stands at 1000:919. The picture of ‘Gujarat glowing’ is only artificial.  Bullet train would levy a hefty loan of Re.1 lakh crore on the hapless people,” he said and added on another note that demonetization was a huge ‘blunder’ in the country’s economic history. “GST was neither planned nor implemented properly,” he concluded.