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Modi makes sure Godhra isn?t forgotten
Narendra Modi wound up his poll campaign on a predictable note: He reminded electorate that communalism was his safest bet.
Gujarat's caretaker chief minister Narendra Modi wound up his election campaign on a predictable note: He reminded the electorate that communalism (read Godhra) was his safest bet.
Making no pretensions, a defiant Modi raised his pet topics of Godhra and anti-Pakistan rhetoric during his hectic whistle-stop tour of villages across central Gujarat. "What I witnessed in Godhra is still fresh in my memory. How can I ever forget it?" Modi told a gathering at Modhera village.
He then went on to give a graphic account of the charred bodies of children and women aboard coach S6 of the Sabarmati Express. But (predictably, again) not a word on the thousands killed in the riots that broke out in the wake of the Godhra carnage.
If elected Chief Minister, Modi swore, he would not spare a single attacker of the Sabarmati carnage. No mention was made of what he would do to book culprits in the riots, which include several of his ministers, colleagues and friends in the BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dal.
Calling the Congress the "Muslim League of Gujarat", Modi accused the Opposition party of garnering Muslim votes by organising a carefully crafted propaganda against him. "I read about a fatwa issued by a Muslim organisation asking voters to register a 100 percent turnout during the election, so that their vote can be used to remove me from power," Modi said. "You (Hindus) should defeat their purpose by turning out in large numbers yourself to vote," he told the gathering that consisted of only the Hindu voters from the area.
None of the 3,000 Muslims in Chanasma constituency, under which Modhera falls, turned up for Modi's rally. They knew Modi's speeches too well by now and feared discrimination.
The message was the same at every speech Modi gave as he rushed to catch the 5 p.m. deadline set by the Election Commission when campaigning had to wound up.
But the rhetoric Modi whipped up did little to address the real concerns of farmers in Modhera. Farmers here grow jeera that is sold at the Unjha market, the largest such market in Asia, with daily sales figures touching a whopping Rs 10 crore. "Our crops are withering. We have no electricity to irrigate our fields. Water is found at a depth of 1,000 feet or more," complained Rameshbhai, a jeera farmer at Modhera. "But no politician raises these issues."
