Narendra Modi neither zero nor hero: Congress

Congress today sought to puncture Narendra Modi's development claims saying his Gujarat model was not backed by facts and he was "neither zero nor hero".

Releasing a 32-page document carrying statistics about Gujarat's performance on various paradigms, Union minister Kapil Sibal said Modi's state is "most indebted state of India".

"He (Modi) is neither zero, nor hero. His place lies somewhere in between. He is trying to put down everyone else, the rest of India and give credit only to himself for everything as if he is messiah," he told reporters.

"The fact is that there are many states including Delhi, which are way head Gujarat in many parameters. He changes history, he changes statistics. The truth about Gujarat is that as there is good and bad, hits and misses about it like it is about every state," he said.

As campaign for Delhi assembly polls enters its last leg, Sibal, who is an MP from Chandni Chowk parliamentary seat here, projected the Sheila Dikshit-ruled state way ahead of Modi's Gujarat.

"The average growth rate of Delhi is 11.39 per cent while that of Gujarat is 10.13 per cent. In FDI, Delhi stood at over USD 30 billion after Congress-NCP ruled Maharashtra, where it was above USD 50 billion. Gujarat had FDI of less than USD 10 million," he claimed.

Sibal said that while fiscal deficit in Delhi was Rs 26 billion in 2012-13, that of Gujarat was Rs 178.3 billion as per the RBI data.

"Modi keeps saying about Gujarat as if there is no leader in India, who can equal him. He talks as if he has made Gujarat a heaven. One does have a right to desire for prime ministership but not to claim it on the basis of false data. The reality is something else.

Gujarat was developed much before Modi was even in picture. Most of the big projects in Gujarat were conceived and developed much before Modi's arrival," he said.