BHOPAL: Press Council of India
chairman Markandey Katju on Sunday
hit out at Gujarat chief minister
Narendra Modi describing as "
phoney" his claims of development in
the state and saying its malnutrition
rate was worse than Somalia.
Katju said Modi had made tall claims
about development in Gujarat but
pointed out that the living standards of
the common people was still
"abysmal".
Citing figures, he told reporters that
Gujarat's malnutrition rate was higher
than that of poor countries like
Somalia in Africa.
Katju said the development claim in
Gujarat was "phoney", since it had not
helped the common man in any way.
The time may come when the people
of the state would themselves realise
that the development about which
Modi boasts a lot was of no use to
them, he said.
He also touched upon the the 2002
post-Godhra riots. "There is no way in
which the blot on Modi's name due to
the 2002 Gujarat communal riots can
be wiped out," Katju said.
Asked what he thought of Modi's third
successive win in assembly elections,
he said that everyone knows how polls
are fought and won these days in the
country.
He said that in sharp contrast , there
was no blot on another BJP-ruled state
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj
Singh Chouhan's name.
Katju said that he met Chouhan two
days ago and invited him to attend an
'mushaira' (Urdu poetry meet) and the
chief minister promised that he would
come for only 15 minutes.
Katju said that when Chouhan came,
he extended his stay to 50 minutes and
appreciated Urdu poetry.
"I found Chouhan to be a polite and
humble person ," Katju said.
He said Chouhan also promised to do
all that he can for the development of
Urdu in Madhya Pradesh.
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