How chief ministers woo NRIs

Maharashtra and Gujarat have been vying for investments for more than two decades, but their intense rivalry came out into the open on day two of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Hyderabad.

It all began when Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi (right), speaking in chaste Hindi, recounted the rapid strides made in Gujarat in various sectors and claimed his state had surpassed all others. Going a little overboard, he said Gujarat was way ahead, and "compared not with Maharashtra or Goa, but with Germany and Japan."

In his speech, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh (left) countered Modi point-by-point, saying that Maharashtra remained "the preferred investment destination for both domestic and foreign investors, and various all-India surveys by independent agencies had adjudged it the best state for investment."

Also See: Modi-Deshmukh spat at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas