Arjun Modhwadia on Tuesday criticised chief minister Narendra Modi's air travel in the private planes of big corporates.
Senior MLA and Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Arjun Modhwadia on Tuesday criticised chief minister Narendra Modi's air travel in the private planes of big corporates. Participating in the discussion on demands of budget for the general administration department, Modhwadia provided the facts and figures of the CM's air travel in the assembly.
He said, “It is good that the ministers and the chief minister are travelling, so that they can understand people's issues. The government has also bought an airplane and a chopper for the CM's travel. But the CM doesn't like government airplane and chopper, so he is travelling in the private airplanes owned by big corporate houses."
Referring to his own and CM's young days, Modhwadia said: “We both (CM and myself) have seen days, when we had struggled to afford even a bicycle."
He said, “The CM had used private chartered planes five times in 2003 at the cost of more than Rs1.25 crore. In 2004, the number increased to 16 at the cost of Rs3.59 crore; in 2005, he used private planes for 21 times at the cost of Rs3.48 crore; the number went up to 24 times at the cost of Rs4.99 crore in 2006; in 2007 and 2008, the numbers of air travel by the CM in private planes were 34 and 42 respectively at the cost of Rs3.23 crore and Rs3.2 crore."
Modhwadia said during 2009-10 the CM made 114 air travels but the expenses were not available.
“During this period, the CM went abroad 17 times with groups of industrialists. He has not been granted visa by many countries but he visited China three times and Switzerland twice," said the Congress leader.
While he was speaking, speaker Ganpat Vasava intervened and said that the issue had been entrusted to the Justice MB Shah Commission for inquiry and “it cannot be discussed in the House". The speaker also removed all discussions from the records of the assembly.
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