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Modi blames Congress for Godhra incident

K G Suresh in Dhakor

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched the ninth leg of his controversial Gujarat Gaurav Yatra in Dhakor, considered a Congress bastion, blaming the Sonia Gandhi-led party for the Godhra incident and accusing the Nehru family of 'ignoring' Sardar Patel.

Without using the term 'reaction', which had drawn widespread criticism, Modi told a public gathering en route to Godhra, 'but for Godhra, Gujarat [communal violence] would not have happened'.

"If Congress keeps protecting the perpetrators of the Godhra carnage, Gujarat will never return to normalcy," he said.

Modi, who launched his poll campaign on October 31 from Karamsad, Sardar Patel's birthplace, sought to appropriate the iron man's legacy by attacking the Congress for changing at the last minute its poll campaign launch venue from Karamsad to Anand and alleged that it was done at the behest of the party top brass.

"Not a single member of the Nehru-Gandhi family has paid tributes to Patel at Karamsad in the past 50 years. We will force them to do so," he said to loud cheers from the audience, which included a large number of saints belonging to the Swaminarayan sect.

Describing the coming assembly elections in Gujarat as a 'battle for the state's self respect', Modi charged the Congress with 'defaming five crore Gujratis for the communal riots'.

"The Congressmen will never be able to recognize the pride of Gujarat till they remove their Italian spectacles. The world one sees through Italian glasses is illusionary and totally different," he said.

Modi, who began the yatra at the famous Ranchhorji temple, claimed credit for improving the temple's surroundings and initiating flood control measures.

BJP national treasurer and in charge of Gujarat Ram Das Agarwal said the state would prove to be the graveyard of terrorism, while state party chief Rajender Singh Rana said the coming polls would give a new direction to political polarisation in the country.

Interestingly, Gujarat BJP election campaign committee chief and former chief minister Keshubhai Patel was conspicuous by his absence. He was also not present at the party's launching function at Karamsad sparking off speculation of differences within the party on the leadership issue.

Godhra parliamentary constituency and four out of the seven assembly segments in it were with the Congress in the last assembly.

Gujarat Elections 2002: The complete coverage

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