Gujarat polls: In housing promise Congress, BJP miss the math

At a time when the BJP and Congress have indulged in fierce competition of making outlandish promises to woo voters before the Assembly polls, the claim to make 40 or 50 lakhs houses in five years came as a mathematical shocker.

While the Congress promised its voters of making 40 lakh houses, the BJP responded with an increased figure of building 50 lakh houses in the same time frame.

The reality is if either of the winning party even dares to do that it will have to make 3,000 houses everyday on an average, leave alone the crunch of money and resources.

Housing dreams?

The housing scheme was a Congress idea through their Ghar nu ghar announcement, which resulted in 40 lakh applications, making the BJP nervous, as per a IBN7 report. However, none of the parties have a clear idea how they are going to implement it.

"In our scheme we are not saying that we will build 40 lakh houses and give them away. This is a part of a three-pronged well thought out strategy, according to which we will build 40 lakh houses in Gujarat. These 40 lakh houses are from the the total of 1 crore 80 lakh we are planning to build for the entire country to plug the housing shortage," Housing and Poverty Alleviation Minister Ajay Maken told reporters.

The Congress also went to the extent of making sample flats to convince the voters.

When Chief Minister Narendra Modi was asked about how the housing scheme will be implemented, he also failed to give a clear picture.

"A political party can give its vision and the action plan. The government will make the estimates. The estimates will be made in the budget. This is not my budget speech. When I make one I shall get back to you," Modi told reporters in Ahmedabad.

The state goes to polls on 13 and 17 December. The counting of votes is on 20 December.