Click to play videoGodhra/ Naroda Patia: The two places worst affected by the 2002 riots had different stories to tell. Godhra went to the Congress, while the BJP won Naroda Patia.
The Hindus of Godhra are thrilled and Kakul Pathak is no different. He has been smiling ever since Narendra Modi reached the magic numbers to become Chief Minister again.
Pathak, a member the VHP and BJP for 20 years, carried breakfast for the kar sevaks on the morning of the 27th of February 2002. He says he saw it all with his own eyes men killing his friends.
But today he thinks as a Hindu in Godhra he has scored over his Muslim counterparts.
Pathak says, "Muslims of Godhra to be wary of the congress. The BJP is their best bet."
Hindus and Muslims may not live side by side in Godhra, but they try to maintain a cordial harmony. But when the ghost of 2002 reappear its not easy for either community to not take a stand.
Similarly in Narodia Patia the epicentre of the 2002 riots, the unusually quiet streets are flanked by locked houses, women and children have been asked to stay inside.
The stench of fear is so real in this Muslim slum that you can smell it. As the poll results filter in - Shabana Qureshi doesn't know whether to be happy or sad.
She lost her mother and younger sister to the communal carnage in 2002. Her 76-year-old father saw his daughter being raped and then killed by a local VHP leader. The man Shabana blames for all of it has been voted back to power.
“Had Modi lost today his people would have gone on a killing spree. So I am glad we have escaped that. But there will be no justice for my family for another five years. We'll just continue living like the untouchables. No loans, no water and no electricity,” says Shabana.
Shabana may sound resigned but there are others who are extremely upset with the results every family in Naroda Patia has lost a relative a friend or a sister.
Across the streets from Naroda Patia it’s time to celebrate. The BJP candidate has got a landslide victory. One election result and two extreme reactions - this is the story of Gujarat the state that will perhaps never be completely be able to wash away the scars of 2002.
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