'People 'living in fear' in land of Buddha, Gandhi'

Attacking the central government, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday said people in the land of Gautam Buddha, and Mahatma Gandhi are "living in fear".

Addressing the 17th edition of Hindustan Times (HT) leadership summit here, he said there is a difference between nationalism practiced by the BJP and Congress.

"Our nationalism is being followed as a tradition which is represented by (Mahatma) Gandhiji. Their nationalism is inspired by Hitler and Mussolini. Their nationalism is violent and provocative and there is no place for dissent. Whosoever disagrees will be removed. Everybody is living in fear in the land of Mahavir, Gandhi and Buddha," the chief minister of the Congress-ruled state said.

His comments come days after industrialist Rahul Bajaj had in Mumbai said that people are afraid of criticising the central government's policies.

Commenting on the economy, the chief minister said that the country cannot function on emotional grounds and for this economy needs to be strengthened.

He, however, said Chhattisgarh is not affected by the economic slowdown because the state government has put more money in the citizen's pocket through loan waiver of farmers, procuring paddy at MSP of Rs 2,500.

The money ultimately came back to the market, Baghel said.

Answering a question on the National Register for Citizens (NRC), the chief minister said, "This is just a way to deflect attention from real issues."

Asked about GST compensation to states, Baghel stated that the demand for compensation has reached Rs 6,500 crore in 2018-19.

He alleged that development works in the state are being affected and Chhattisgarh is witnessing revenue loss as the state has not yet received GST compensation from the Centre.

Baghel said not releasing GST compensation of states is a clear violation of Constitutional Amendment Act before GST.

Mentioning the achievements of his 11-month old government, the chief minister said that rate of unemployment in Chhattisgarh has registered a decline of 6 per cent whereas sectors like automobile and real estate have witnessed a jump of over 70 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively.