Modi doled out huge concessions to Gujarat tycoons by "creating" mechanism for legalised corruption: Ex-BJP CM

Modi enjoying camel ride at Sharadotsav

By A Representative
Starting with 2005, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as Gujarat chief minister, created a well-oiled mechanism, under which he made top tycoons to fund, and also politically support, his well-publicized festivals and business meetings, including the biennial Vibrant Gujarat world business summits, and in return doled away huge concessions to them.
Calling it "legalised corruption", former BJP chief minister and industries minister under Modi in 2001-02, Suresh Mehta, who resigned from BJP in 2007, told media in Ahmedabad that this unique "Gujarat model" took shape starting with an August 5, 2005 government resolution (GR), which allowed state officials to open a separate account for the money received from business houses and use it in festivities.
"In complete violation of the Constitution, which bars any funds to be used for official purposes if they are not permitted by the legislature, the GR formed a committee consisting of ministers and government officials, which at its two formal meetings on August 16 and 22 asked district collector, Kutch, Pradeep Sharma, to open an account with State Bank of India (SBI), where the funds received for the first such festival, Rannotsav, held later that year, was kept", Mehta said.
Claiming to have received the information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act after "frequent denials" to show official records, for which he had to make several appeals, Mehta, who is not associated with any political party, said, "The records which I have received show that 453 big and small companies, private individuals, cooperative banks, cinema houses, petrol pumps, business associations, etc. were were made to fund the Sharadotsav."

Modi with Kutch collector Pradeep Sharma

"What is shocking is that, in this effort for Modi's officially-sponsored festival even village panchayats were not spared. As many as 136 of them, many extremely poor, were forced to give money for Sharadotsav. If they refused, they were forced to give just about Rs 500", Mehta said, handing over documents in support of his claims.
Pointing out that the total funds thus collected in the SBI account No of 090310007623 of Bhuj, Kutch district headquarter, was Rs 2.39 crore, Mehta said, "Officials wrote letters to business houses to fund the festival. Thus, the district collector wrote a letter to the Adani Port Ltd in Mundra, Kutch, to provide Rs 50 lakh. As against this, it sent across a cheque of Rs 25 lakh. Another business house, Welspun, gave Rs 55 lakh in four instalments."
Claiming that this "coincided" with tycoons being offered "huge" concessions, Mehta said, "For instance, soon after this, Welspun was given 48 acres of land in Kutch for kickstarting an industrial unit at the rate of Rs 15 per metre, while the actual market rate was Rs 200 per metre. Even the assessment government rate, called jantri, was Rs 78 per metre."
Revealing that the SBI account opened for receiving money from different sources till date has not been closed, and has gone into dormant, Mehta added, "According to my information, Welspun, which owns 1,600 acres of land in Kutch, has so far been given away concessions worth Rs 21,000 crore."
Noting how the money collected from different sources, especially business houses, was used, Mehta said, "Information received under RTI shows that Modi ate a Gujarati sweet dish made of milk and rice, doodh pauva, for Rs 12,270, rode on a camel cart whose beds and pillows cost 15,625, and a private individual, said to have been the guest of Modi, Mansi Soni, was paid Rs 5,153 against her mobile recharge and petrol."

Comments

Covishield controversy: How India ignored a warning voice during the pandemic

Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD * It is a matter of pride for us that a person of Indian origin, presently Director of National Institute of Health, USA, is poised to take over one of the most powerful roles in public health. Professor Jay Bhattacharya, an Indian origin physician and a health economist, from Stanford University, USA, will be assuming the appointment of acting head of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA. Bhattacharya would be leading two apex institutions in the field of public health which not only shape American health policies but act as bellwether globally.

Growth without justice: The politics of wealth and the economics of hunger

By Vikas Meshram* In modern history, few periods have displayed such a grotesque and contradictory picture of wealth as the present. On one side, a handful of individuals accumulate in a single year more wealth than the annual income of entire nations. On the other, nearly every fourth person in the world goes to bed hungry or half-fed.

When a lake becomes real estate: The mismanagement of Hyderabad’s waterbodies

By Dr Mansee Bal Bhargava* Misunderstood, misinterpreted and misguided governance and management of urban lakes in India —illustrated here through Hyderabad —demands urgent attention from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), the political establishment, the judiciary, the builder–developer lobby, and most importantly, the citizens of Hyderabad. Fundamental misconceptions about urban lakes have shaped policies and practices that systematically misuse, abuse and ultimately erase them—often in the name of urban development.

'Serious violation of international law': US pressure on Mexico to stop oil shipments to Cuba

By Vijay Prashad In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years. Without any mandate from the United Nations Security Council—which permits sanctions under strict conditions—the United States has operated an illegal, unilateral blockade that tries to force countries from around the world to stop doing basic commerce with Cuba. The new restrictions focus on oil. The United States government has threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sells or transports oil to Cuba.

Thali, COVID and academic credibility: All about the 2020 'pseudoscientific' Galgotias paper

By Jag Jivan The first page image of the paper "Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis" published in the Journal of Molecular Pharmaceuticals and Regulatory Affairs , Vol. 2, Issue 2 (2020), has gone viral on social media in the wake of the controversy surrounding a Chinese robot presented by the Galgotias University as its original product at the just-concluded AI summit in Delhi . The resurfacing of the 2020 publication, authored by Dharmendra Kumar , Galgotias University, has reignited debate over academic standards and scientific credibility.

When grief becomes grace: Kerala's quiet revolution in organ donation

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Kerala is an important model for understanding India's diversity precisely because the religious and cultural plurality it has witnessed over centuries brought together traditions and good practices from across the world. Kerala had India's first communist government, was the first state where a duly elected government was dismissed, and remains the first state to achieve near-total literacy. It is also a land where Christianity and Islam took root before they spread to Europe and other parts of the world. Kerala has deep historic rationalist and secular traditions.

Bangladesh goes to polls as press freedom concerns surface

By Nava Thakuria* As Bangladesh heads for its 13th Parliamentary election and a referendum on the July National Charter simultaneously on Thursday (12 February 2026), interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus has urged all participating candidates to rise above personal and party interests and prioritize the greater interests of the Muslim-majority nation, regardless of the poll outcomes.

The Galgotia model: How India is losing the war on knowledge

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Galgotia is the face of 'quality education' as envisioned by those who never considered education a tool for social change or national uplift — and yet this is precisely the model Narendra Modi pursued in Gujarat as Chief Minister. In the mid-eighties, when many of us were growing up, 'Nirma' became one of the most popular advertisements on Doordarshan. Whether the product was any good hardly seemed to matter.

Beyond the conflict: Experts outline roadmap for humane street dog solutions

By A Representative In a direct response to the rising polarization surrounding India’s street dog population, a high-level coalition of parliamentarians, legal experts, and civil society leaders gathered in the capital to propose a unified national framework for humane animal management. The emergency deliberations were sparked by a recent Suo Moto judgment that has significantly deepened the divide between animal welfare advocates and those calling for the removal of community dogs, a tension that has recently escalated into reported violence against both animals and their caretakers in states like Telangana.

Search This Blog