‘Gujarat 'sarpanch meeting a political drama’

Alarmed at Narendra Modi's brazen electoral wooing techniques, senior leader of Gujarat Congress Nishith Vyas stated on Friday that a mahasammelan of sarpanchs being summoned at the Mahatma Mandir is a big drama. Vyas alleges that calling such a sammelan is a slap for democracy which shows that the issues raised in the respective gram sabhas have not been addressed and Modi has had to resort to such gimmicks to get votes during elections.

"The seating capacity of Mahatma Mandir is not more than 6,000 while 16,000 sarpanchs have been summoned. It is interesting how Modi has decided to address them just months before the gram panchayat elections are due," Vyas said. He added that much of the aid given out to the poor during the Garib Kalyan Mela is part of centre-sponsored schemes. "The government should release a white paper on how much central funds are disbursed in GKM," he said.

"Due to government's irresponsibility, 1,500 people have lost their lives in leptospirosis. There are vacancies in primary and secondary health centers in rural areas of Gujarat. Ten lakh literates have registered as unemployed and another 15 lakh literates are unregistered but still seeking jobs. Surrounded by such serious issues, Modi is desperately using the state exchequer to reach out to voters. Villagers have been harassed because 4,000 state transport buses have been diverted from their scheduled route to specially run for the Garib Kalyan Melas," Vyas alleged.