Advani, Congress MPs keep away from Modi’s pathshala

As is the prevalent practice, all newly elected members of parliament from the state were called to attend a meeting here on Wednesday before they go back for the parliament’s monsoon session. The meet discussed pending issues of the state before the central government.

However, BJP MP from Gandhinagar, LK Advani and all the Congress MPs remained conspicuous with their absence from the meeting. Chief minister Narendra Modi briefed the new 15th Lok Sabha MPs about the important pending 25 development issues of the state and requested them to raise questions on these issues on the floor of the parliament.

Those BJP MPs who attended the meet included the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitely, besides all state ministers, in-charge chief secretary AK Joti and other secretaries. A booklet of 53 pending issues of the state with possible question to ask in Parliament was also been given to them.

Modi asked MPs to raise the issue of long pending Gujcoc (Gujarat Control of Organised Crime) Bill clearance; raise the issue of non-payment of Rs1,500 crore crude royalty by the Centre to Gujarat; release Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority(CAMPA) fund of Rs211.53 crore as well as Rs6.56 crore of old forest plantation fund.

Besides, the CM also asked the MPs to raise the state’s coastal security proposal of Rs392.47 crore, of which the centre has given only 58.42 crore so far. He also said that of the 51 coastal police stations demanded, the centre has allocated only 10. Asking them to raise the long pending issue of state fishermen languishing in Pakistan jails and their mechanised boats in Pakistan custody, the CM informed that at present 211 fisherman and 1,999 boats are in Pakistan’s custody. Apart from these the CM also tutored the new batch on continuing schemes for handicapped children, clearing the Rs579.22 crore vital Gadhuli-Santalpur road,  give Narmada status of national river, allocate special grant for evening courts, among a host of other important issues.

Sidelights

Jaitley keeps away from Modi: Given the bonhomie between Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley, the later was expected to spend some time in the CM's chamber before the meeting. But, to the surprise of those present in the meeting, the two arrived to the conference hall separately.

Modi looking downcast: Most of the babus in Sachivalaya said Modi looked downcast. Even his trademark enthusiasm was missing. The government in fact is not hopeful of resolving the issues listed in pending list anytime soon. “This could be a reason for the CM looking disinterested,” said a bureaucrat.

Cong MPs skip event: None of the 11 Congress MPs from Gujarat showed up for the meeting, despite being invited. The meeting was called to apprise the MPs about the state's concerns so that they could raise the issues in the parliament. Apparently, Congress MPs are in no mood to cooperate with Modi.