Ahead of the Assembly elections in Gujarat, Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday showcased the initiatives taken by the Bharatiya Janata Party government to catapult the state's economic growth.

"Gujarat is a shining example in India's journey to economic development and self reliance," Modi said at the release of a report by consultancy firm Ernest and Young. The report lists 72 path breaking initiatives undertaken by the Gujarat government for the state's development in his 72-month rule.

Congratulating Modi for the progress made by the state, former Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat said, "it is difficult to bring about such development in a coalition regime".

"Coalition governments cannot work at this pace. The environment is not conducive for such growth," he said. Shekhawat added that the development schemes should be linked to politics and various political parties should be brought on board.

"There are a lot of inter-state problems because of which there are developmental problems," he added.

Senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani said that though Modi had faced a lot of criticism during his term, he had always ignored them and worked for the development of the state.

"There will not be a single chief minister who has got as much criticism as Modi, but he has kept his cool and looked ahead," said Advani.