Taking the battle to the home-turf of BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today alleged that about half the population in Gujarat lacked access to drinking water, and malnourishment among the children was high in the state.
Without naming the Gujarat Chief Minister, Gandhi said, "These days a lot is being said about Gujarat model of development, but the reality is something else. In Gujarat 40 per cent people have no drinking water, 27,000 posts reserved for dalits and tribals are vacant.
"Every second child under five years is malnourished (in the state)," Sonia said, addressing a rally in support of Congress candidate and sitting MP from Mandsaur, Meenakshi Natrajan.
For power, BJP was spreading lies, she said.
Attacking the government of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh on the issue of Madhya Pradesh Professional Board Examination scam, she said the state government had promised a job to one person in every family, but what people got instead was a scam, wherein ineligible persons got jobs at the behest of BJP and RSS.
Terming Madhya Pradesh as "ghotala pradesh" (scam state), Sonia said, "Crores of rupees tumbled out even from houses of low-level employees during raids. One can imagine the amount of money accumulated by corrupt officers and ministers in the state."
She also reminded the people that it was Congress which introduced the Right to Information Act.
The Centre had given Rs 419 crore to Madhya Pradesh for giving relief to the farmers affected by hailstorms, but the state government did not disburse the money and blamed the Centre, she alleged.
She also claimed that Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in the state launched the existing schemes of the Central government by simply renaming them.