http://epaper.asianage.com/
YOJNA GUSAI
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NEW DELHI, AUG. 29
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For Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, the Naroda Patiya verdict
comes at a time when crucial Assembly elections are just months away.
Mr Modi and the BJP have been selling Gujarat's “unprecedented growth“,
calling Mr Modi a “victim“ of a vilification campaign, but the Opposition
has got enough ammunition to attack him as Maya Kodnani, held guilty
of murder and criminal conspiracy in the riots, is considered close
to the CM.
Her conviction will almost certainly dent Mr Modi's
credibility and put him on the backfoot.
The Opposition has alleged that Kodnani, accused
of instigating the mob, acted at the behest of her political masters,
including the CM. After Wednesday's verdict, internal discussions have
begun
in the BJP whether the national ambitions of Mr Modi,
an aspirant for the prime ministership, will be affected.
Kodnani, a three-time MLA from Naroda, was inducted
into the Modi Cabinet in 2007 despite allegations against her.
The BJP has dismissed the demand for Mr Modi's resignation
and tried to play down the verdict, but the leadership has started weighing
its implications.
A section of the party feels the BJP's poll prospects
will be hit as for the first time a “high-profile” leader has been
convicted. The Gujarat government was quick to distance itself from
Kodnani, noting she was not a minister when the riots occurred. “An
MLA is not a state government functionary,” a government spokesman
pointed out to reporters. Sources disclosed that the coming Assembly
polls in Gujarat are considered crucial because it is not just the Opposition
but dissident camp, led by former CM Keshubhai Patel, who has opened
fronts against chief minister Narendra Modi.
A section within the party is of the view that the
verdict in the Naroda Patiya case of 2002 riots will affect the BJP's
poll prospects as it is for the first time that such a “high profile”
leader -- Maya Kodnani -- has been convicted for instigating riots.
While the saffron party was quick enough to react
when the special investigation team (SIT) in the Gulberg Society case
refused the plea of slain former MP Ahsan Jafri's wife to prosecute
Mr Modi, it said it will not politicise the judicial process by reacting
on the Naroda Patiya verdict.
Soon after the verdict was out, the Gujarat govern
ment tried to distance itself from Kodnani saying
she was not a minister when the incident occurred.
“Let me be very clear that the MLA is not a state
government functionary as you are trying to make it out, secondly, Dr
Maya Kodnani was not a minister when this incident took place,“ Gujarat
government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas said in Ahmedabad while lashing
out at the Opposition for targeting Mr Modi.
While the BJP played down the verdict, law minister
Salman Khurshid said the judgment enhances faith of the people in the
legal system.
“For all of us, it is a matter of comfort that
faith in the legal system gets enhanced and strengthened. Every time
this kind of inhuman act is made accountable, people who are responsible
should feel a sense of reprimand,“ Mr Khurshid said.
