India's Communist Party against Modi, a Nazi who lies to the people
New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies) - The so-called Gujarat model of economic development free of ethnic and religious tensions is a "big lie", a mantra of Nazi propaganda by Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), this according to two promiment members of Communist Party of India (CPI-Marxist), Brinda Karat, the first woman elected to the Politburo, and Arun Mehta, CPM secretary in Gujarat.
The two CPI-M leaders spoke yesterday at the launch of two booklets based on National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data.
Titled Defeat BJP Defend Secularism and No To The Gujarat Model, the two studies try to explain how the election campaign by three-time Gujarat Chief Minister Modi and current BJP prime ministerial candidate rests on groundless claims.
NSSO data show that, contrary to widespread belief, the state's much vaunted wealth and development do not exist.
"The so-called Gujarat model is based on cheap labour and its exploitation, very low expenditure on consumption, very high malnutrition, very high school dropout rates and very low expenditure on education and healthcare," Brinda Karat explained.
In fact, on the issue of development, she noted that according to NSSO records, 90 per cent of people in rural areas of Gujarat spent only 75 rupees (US$ 1.25) per day on food and essentials.
The state's dropout rate was as high as 58 per cent, whilst the employment rate grew by 0.4 per cent, far less than the national average.
In other words, for her, "The so-called Gujarat model is only for the corporates and not the people".
For his part, Arun Mehta demolished one of Modi's propaganda myths, namely that everyone has power all day long across the state.
In reality, "In rural Gujarat, power supply is not [available] for more than six hours," he said, and "121,000 applications for power connection" have been "pending for five years".
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26/01/2021 15:37
