PMO calls Gujarat performing, PM denies it, says BJP

BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for questioning the development of Gujarat at a time when his office counted the state as among the best in the country.

“It is really worrying that the prime minister has even forgotten that his own ministry, the PMO, has been certifying Gujarat as the best performing state,” said Sitharaman.

On Sunday, Singh went after Chief Minister Narendra Modi at an election rally in Vansada rejecting his claims of development by referring to the statistics of Gujarat’s poor human development index.

“Unlike the Opposition we do not play politics of dividing the people. Such type of politics is bad and cannot benefit a political party in the longer run,” the prime minister said on Sunday.

With naming the chief minister, Singh said, “The time has come to liberate Gujarat from such politics and prevent those from returning to power who have been trying to get votes by dividing our society and country.”

“We know that if there are divisions in our people on the lines of religion, caste, creed and clan…Then we cannot surge ahead as a nation.”