'Rahul a 'shameless liar', desperate to see Guj fail'

In a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi for his critical remarks on the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Summit, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani dubbed the Congress president as a "shameless liar" who was desperate to see the state fail.

Rupani said people of Gujarat have recognised Gandhi's "hatred" for the state and have continuously rejected the Congress, and will keep doing so.

Gandhi had on Sunday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that "cynical" sponsors of the investor summit no longer wanted to be associated with an event presided over by him.

"At the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2019, cynical sponsors no longer want to associate themselves with an event presided over by NoMo. They have left the stage, the way he likes it...Empty," he had said.

The Congress chief had quoted a media report to target the summit, conceptualised in 2003 by Prime Minister Modi when he was the chief minister of the state to promote investment in Gujarat.

The report claimed that the United Kingdom, after refusing to be a partner country for the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2019, said it had decided to withdraw from the "showpiece state-led event" due to lack of satisfactory "commercial outcomes".

Reportedly, the UK is the second country after the United States to pull out as a partner country for the summit.

Reacting to Gandhi's tweet, Rupani Sunday night claimed that the investor meet was seeing even more participation this time.

"Such a shameless liar you are Rahul Gandhi. This time Vibrant Gujarat is seeing even more participation. Here are the facts," he said in a tweet along with a link to a media report.

The report had recently quoted the chief minister saying that unlike the previous edition where 10 nations were partner countries, this time in 2019 the summit will have 16 partner countries.

"The glee in your tweet shows how desperate you are to see Gujarat fail. Gujaratis recognise your hatred for the state and have continuously rejected the Congress & will keep doing so! #RaGaJhoothKiMachine," Rupani said in another tweet.

Gujarat will host the ninth edition of the annual industry summit 'Vibrant Gujarat' from January 18 to 20, 2019, in Gandhinagar.

The summit focuses on establishing Gujarat as a preferred investment destination in India.

Over the years, the summit has evolved into a platform for brainstorming on agendas of global socio-economic development, in addition to becoming a platform for forging strategic public-private partnerships.