In the midst of Nitish Kumar raising the pitch against Narendra Modi, Congress today accused the Gujarat Chief Minister of "communalising" politics and debunked his development model.
"Gujarat's economic development under the present Chief Minister is a glass full of gas and no water. It's a myth, a hype. There are many other states like Odisha and Bihar, which are doing much better," Gujarat CLP leader Shankersinh Vaghela told reporters here.
Vaghela, in his first interaction in the national capital after Gujarat assembly elections that saw Modi making a hat-trick, accused him of winning elections in the state by "having communalised" the politics. He also rejected as "double-facedness" the Chief Minister's Sadbhavna fast and other overtures to reach out to all communities.
Vaghela, however, deflected a query whether he is raking up the issue of communal politics in Gujarat at a time when Modi is speculated to be the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate.
He described Nitish Kumar as a "good friend" and said that the Bihar Chief Minister must be deciding his strategy according to political requirements in his state.
"But he is part and parcel of NDA," was his cautious response when asked whether he welcomes Kumar standing up against Modi's PM candidature within the NDA.
Vaghela also rejected media queries about the political contest in 2014 being Rahul Gandhi versus Modi saying it may be "versus UPA and NDA, versus Congress and BJP but not Rahul versus Modi" as India does not have a Presidential system of election like the US.
He described such contentions are "insult to voters" as in a Parliamentary democracy, the voters elect MLAs and MPs, who choose the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister.
Vaghela presented figures quoting various government documents to hammer the point that Modi's development claims is "fiction and creative writing" and that the "drinking water crisis" in the state is the "stark reality of Gujarat model".