Liquor cheaper than water in Modi's Gujarat: Congress

Rajkot: Opposition Congress today alleged that liquor has become cheaper than water in parched Gujarat as Chief Minister Narendra Modi is busy chasing his "dream" to become prime minister and ignoring the plight of common people. "Water is not easily available in drought-hit areas in the state but liquor is not only readily available but at the rate cheaper than water", state unit Congress president Arjun Modhwadia told reporters in Rajkot.[caption id="attachment_674644" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. PTI[/caption]"People of as many as 160 villages from Saurashtra, North Gujarat and Central Gujarat are facing shortage of drinking water. However, the chief minister is dreaming to become prime minister and not doing anything to bail out the affected people," he said.Tearing into Modi's claims of development, Modhwadia said they are nothing but a ploy to mislead people and the Legislative Assembly.Modhwadia accused Modi of sitting on the Central fund of Rs 1,500 crore meant for drought-hit areas and misusing it for "self propaganda", Modhwadia said."I urge the state government to use the fund only to solve the drinking water and fodder problems and not of self-propaganda," he said.Continuing his tirade against Modi, often being projected as BJP's prime ministerial candidate in 2014 elections, Modhwadia said the BJP government has failed to provide relief to scarcity-hit areas unlike erstwhile Congress government.The senior leader also alleged that the law and order situation in Gujarat was deteriorating and the crime graph going up.Modhwadia downplayed the high-profile crossover of party MLA Vitthal Radadiya to BJP, saying that such "minor" developments seldom affect the Grand Old party. PTI