BJP, Congress in verbal duel over investment figures relating to RR Global Investors Meet

Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s rebuttal to former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s remarks against the truthfulness of the official investment figures pertaining to Rising Rajasthan Global Investors Summit has triggered a fresh volley of pot-shots between the ruling BJP and the rival Congress.

The state government has been asserting that the MoU for projects worth Rs 35 lakh crore was signed in the global investors meet here in December last year. Of them, projects with investment of Rs 7 lakh crore have so far been realised with the start of the groundwork for project units.

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Gehlot has been expressing doubts about prospects of realisation of investment as claimed by the Bhajan Lal Sharma-led government and Union Minister Shah.

Shah, while addressing a mega official event here Monday, took a dig at the senior Congress leader Gehlot, “Gehlot Sa’ab had asked during global summit, how many of the MoU would be realised on ground !…We did not answer then (since we believe that actions speak louder than words). However, now I say this is not about the Congress regimes; now this is the BJP government here, the groundbreaking ceremonies for projects worth over Rs 7 lakh crore have so far taken place,” Shah said, adding the incumbent BJP government would set a new record of translating into reality the commitment of investment made in MoUs.

However, this did not convince Gehlot, who shot back, demanding details of the projects that are in the pipeline.

“It seems that the BJP-led state government or some government officers had made a wrong briefing to the Home Minister Shah on (the realised) investment figures. The people and the businessmen are still wondering where the projects of the claimed investments are being brought up.

“The Congress wants the state government to make public the list of project works where the groundbreaking has been done. Even in the reply to a question in the state assembly and through an RTI application, the investment figures were not shared , why?” he asked.

The Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the state assembly Tika Ram Jully subtly took Shah to task. “The state budget size is Rs 3,80,000 crore. The state gross domestic product(GDP) is around 19,00,000 crore. Now let the people decide themselves whether the claimed investment really realised on ground?

Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra also termed the high investment claims as “misleading jumlas”.

The ruling BJP has fielded Industries Minister Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to counter the Congress’ verbal onslaught.

“Consistent and determined efforts of the Bhajan Lal Sharma BJP government has transformed Rajasthan into a new and hot investment destination that under the previous regimes of the Congress, was known for “infamous” processing hindering red tapism,” asserted Col Rathore.

“The realisation of MoUs for projects with investment of Rs 7 lakh crore, signed during the RR global investors meet in December last year, has laid the foundation of a new industrial revolution in the state. This has emerged as the new identity of Rajasthan,” he said.

The new investment of Rs 7 lakh crore, he added, is not a claim but is the ground reality being revealed by rising new factory complexes and the infrastructures.