Gujarat Election 2022: Congress' Manish Tewari hits out at BJP, says, 'reshuffling CMs three times shows..'

Congress senior leader Manish Tewari said that the decision to replace the chief minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Gujarat, where Assembly elections are scheduled next month, shows the government's 'inefficiency.'

While addressing the media on Wednesday, the former Union Minister slammed the state government over its 'arrogance,' citing the last month's Morbi bridge collapse, which claimed 135 lives, and questioned why no one had resigned yet and why the 'biggest accused', the wealthy persons and those whom the bridge renovation contract was handed, had not been arrested.

In 2016, the BJP replaced Anandiben Patel as Gujarat chief minister with Vijay Rupani. Rupani, who remained as CM after the 2017 elections, was succeeded last year by Bhupendra Patel, also the BJP's chief ministerial face for the December 1 and 5 Gujarat Assembly elections.

According to Tewari, "The fact that the CMs were required to be shown the door is proof of a government's inefficiency. The public must decide what will happen to (the current CM)."

"There cannot be a more living evidence of governance failure than having to reshuffle your chief ministers three times," he said. 

Tewari claimed that corruption was legalised in Gujarat and that the same model was pushed on the rest of the country. "This legitimisation of corruption is dangerous to the country," he continued. 

According to Tewari, Gujarat's debt stood at Rs 2.98 lakh crore, and its unemployment rate for youth aged 20 to 24 is 12.5 per cent, possibly the highest in the country.

On the Morbi bridge collapse, Tewari said, "I was thinking that if such a tragedy had occurred in any other state, where more than 141 people died, and more than 180 were injured, would nobody have resigned, would nobody have been held accountable?"

Tewari added, "Those who sold tickets and worked on construction nut bolts were arrested. Why aren't the people who got the contract arrested? This is because the government's 'arrogance' has advanced so much that it will return to power despite its atrocities and misbehaviour with the population."

While responding to the question about the Aam Aadmi Party, the new poll entry in Gujarat, Tewari said that the new (AAP) government lacked the administrative experience, sensitivity, and responsibility required to govern Punjab, which borders Pakistan. He said, "I would request the Gujarat population not to make the same mistake." 

Talking about the BJP targeting political rivals ahead of the polls by referring to Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar, Tewari said the state government has a 'PhD in diverting attention' from issues affecting the public such as inflation, unemployment, COVID-19 pandemic management, and corruption.

I would like to ask PM Modi why he doesn't discuss development. Whenever there is an election, the BJP ignores issues impacting the population, including unemployment, inflation, COVID-19 damage, or corruption."

(With inputs from PTI)

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• AAP
• BJP
• Congress
• Gujarat
• Gujarat Election 2022
• Manish Tewari