God save India from Gujarat model: Sonia

Barnala (Punjab), April 26 (IANS) Taking on BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi over his Gujarat development model, Congress president Sonia Gandhi Saturday said it has brought misery to various sections.

“Oh God, save the country from such a model. This is the only thing I can say,” Sonia Gandhi said while addressing an election rally in Punjab’s Barnala town in favour of Congress candidate Vijay Inder Singla for the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat.

“Modi is talking a lot about the Gujarat model these days. Do you know what is happening in Gujarat? Sikhs, who have been living there for over 50 years, are being evicted. The Akali Dal is supporting Modi in victimising the Sikhs settled there,” said Sonia.

The Congress president said free power promised to farmers of Punjab by the Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who have an alliance government in the state since 2007, was of no use as farmers were not getting electricity supply at all.

“You know which parties build castles in the air,” she said referring to the Akali Dal and the BJP.

She said the alliance government has made Punjab bankrupt. “They are unable to give salaries to the staff for the last three months. Their leaders know how to fill their own pockets. They are indulging in all wrong activities, including drugs smuggling, illegal mining, imposing (unwanted) goonda tax etc.,” said the Congress president.

Sonia said the plight of farmers in Punjab, was getting worse as crops were not being procured properly. “The UPA government increased the MSP (minimum support price) several times in the last few years,” she said.

All 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will go to polls on April 30.