The UPA appointed committee headed by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has ranked Gujarat as the least developed state and recommends the Center for granting additional funds to the state. It ranked Gujarat as No.12 in the development index of all the states.

The RR Committee was constituted by the finance minister P.Chidambaram few months ago, in wake of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s demand for special status to his state. The committee also earmarked the two BJP ruled states- Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh as least developed states and recommends for granting additional funds for development activities.

Though the committee’s recommendations bring additional funds to these states, it leaves Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi quite embarrassed, who boasts about the all-round development of his state and often declares it stand as role model in development for all the other states. The Committee reports also embarrasses BJP, which claims that BJP ruled states are developing rapidly when compared to Congress ruled states.

However, the timing of tabling the RR Committee reports comes handy for Congress as it is going to face Assembly elections in five states including BJP ruled states Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. BJP yet to react on the committee report.