I want to pose a question to the sultanate of Delhi. There is an employment guarantee scheme which is being implemented in hundreds of districts in this country. But give us the logic of not including a single district of Saurashtra in this scheme which has been in operation for two years. What is the crime committed by Saurashtra for which it is being left out? We need more power to supply to the farmers of Saurashtra.
Soniaben, your husband Rajiv Gandhi had promised in the Lok Sabha that he would allot gas for the power project in Pipavav. Years have gone by after his passing away; at least keep his promise if not the promises made by others. The Centre is not ready to give us gas so I have decided that my farmers of Saurashtra will not starve without gas. And I will get the gas for them from outside even if it is costlier. I will start a power project in Pipavav and solve the power problems of Saurashtra. Was this not the responsibility of Soniaben? But they just don't want to do this.
The government at Delhi is frequently doing injustice to Gujarat. Overnight, they are taking away 200 MW of Gujarat's quota of power. What do you call people who pick up things overnight? (People roar: 'thief'). But I can't use such epithets. Model Code of conduct! I can't use such words but I know that you understand. And if you want to punish them, on December 11 press the button of the lotus. And overnight they are stealing the power for what? They claim that in Mumbai, when we have guests from abroad and there is no power, it looks bad. But they don't care for the green farms of Kathiawad which can help make India shine. But Delhi doesn't care.
Ladies and gentlemen, do you remember the Gujarati phrase 'lame power'? In the past not only governments but the supply of power was also 'lame'. Power supply was so erratic that the engines of the submersible pumps would get damaged frequently. And people were forced to spend around Rs 5,000-Rs 10,000 to repair them. You have suffered all this, right? But in our rule, the pump repair shops have been out of business! And farmers have been able to save money with which they have been able educate their children.
And Saurabhbhai has worked hard to achieve this. He has worked night and day for this. Before we came to power, the Gujarat Electricity Board had a deficit of Rs 2500 crores a year. Today, without increasing the price of power, without levying new taxes, not only have we wiped out this deficit, we have also started saving Rs 200-Rs 300 crores. Friends, tell me, where were the Rs 2500 crores going? Get the answer from our friends in the Congress! Gujarat has been able to come out of this huge deficit of Rs 2500 crores because I have sealed all the leaks. And when you plug the leaks, obviously a few will be uncomfortable! So friends, when I do not take bribes and do not allow bribes to be taken, that too makes people uncomfortable.
This is the people's money and all these years you were looting it and this is why the citizens of Gujarat have thrown you out. People won't forgive you and you still don't want to reform! The Congress does not want to correct its ways. The Congress is forgetting that they more they try to malign me the more the lotus will bloom!
Photographs: Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images
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