n Prime Minister Narendra Modi's performance in the last ten years has set a narrative of development for Lok Sabha elections which were earlier contested on the lines of caste and religion, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said on Monday.
Addressing a rally at Tharad town in Banaskantha district, Patel said people are now discussing when will India become the third largest economy in the world unlike in the past Lok Sabha elections when the issues of caste and religion took centre stage.
"Earlier elections were fought based on caste and religion. After Narendra Modiji came to power (in 2014), he changed the entire pattern of elections, and today, they are being fought on the issue of development," the chief minister said. In the previous general elections, people used to express concern over the condition of the Indian economy, he said.
"But over the last ten years after Modi came to power, people are now discussing when will we become the world's third-largest economy. They are even mentally preparing themselves for becoming the third largest economy," he said.
It is Modi's guarantee that he will take our economy to the third position in his third term, Patel said.
"The pace of development in the last ten years has increased significantly compared with the preceding decades," Patel said claiming 38,650 km of railway line network was electrified between 2014-2023 as against the electrification of 21,802 km network between 1947 and 2014.
"If you have to serve, you must deliver good governance. Service and good governance are connected," he said.
Patel said the number of MBBS seats has been raised to more than 1 lakh to ensure that state government-run hospitals do not experience a shortage of doctors in the next two to three years.
The chief minister said robust tax collection provided the money needed for sustainable development with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) receipted in March 2024 alone standing at Rs 1.78 lakh crore.
"Building on the foundation laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for strong finance, Gujarat's annual budget rose from Rs 16,000 crore in 2000 to Rs 3.32 lakh crore for 2023-24," he added.
Patel claimed the tax collection swelled as the government has been providing all facilities to businessmen to run their enterprises and they are paying tax on time.
"How many times have we heard about scams? What is being discussed today? Today there is a discussion about which scamster went to jail, that is what we discuss today," he said.
Acknowledging the water woes in Banaskantha district, Patel said the state government has granted an in-principal approval for the Rs 1,400-crore project to fill lakes with Narmada canal water.
