Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today dismissed as a “myth” the Gujarat model of development and said her state was placed far better in various sectors.
In a strong rebuttal to the BJP’s Prime Ministerial nominee Narenda Modi on his charge that her party was not concerned about people’s welfare, she said Tamil Nadu was ahead of Gujarat in various sectors, including social indicators and industry.
“A myth has been created that Gujarat is No.1 in India. But that is not true. The fact is that Gujarat is keen to market itself, but Tamil Nadu, under my leadership, is focussed not in making empty claims, but more determined to deliver,” she told an election rally here, a day after Modi campaigned for NDA in the town.
Stepping up attack on the AIADMK and the DMK, Modi had accused the two of being interested only in settling personal scores rather than working for people.
Mortality rate Reeling out statistics to repudiate the Gujarat development model, the main plank of Modi, Jayalalithaa said the below poverty level (BPL) rate was 16.9 per cent in Gujarat while it was only 11.3 per cent in her state which was also better placed in terms of infant mortality rate, at 21 per 1000 as against Gujarat’s 38.
So was the case with maternal mortality rate, with Gujarat accounting for 122 as against Tamil Nadu’s 90, she said.
Tamil Nadu was ahead of Gujarat in other indicators like number of graduates in the manufacturing sector, better coverage of PDS even as it was ranked third in terms of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), two notches ahead of Modi’s state.
Foreign investments “Tamil Nadu attracted ₹15,252 crore of foreign investments in 2012-13. During the same period, Gujarat received ₹2,676 crore. In software exports, Tamil Nadu is ranked fourth while Gujarat is at 11th place,” she said.
Industries in Tamil Nadu outnumber Gujarat even as the state’s foodgrains production touched 101.51 lakh tonnes in 2011-12, even as Gujarat produced only 88.74 lakh tonnes, she said.
Jayalalithaa also listed out various welfare schemes of her Government including marriage assistance to poor women, free bicycles and laptops to students and the flagship free mixer-grinder-fan scheme.
This is the first direct attack on Modi by Jayalalithaa, considered a potential post-poll ally given her cordial ties with him. Both leaders have attended the swearing-in ceremonies of each other as Chief Minister in the past.