Click to play videoFive days before Gujarat goes to elections its Chief Minister has started talking business. Narendra Modi has had enough of talking about development—the focus is now on Hindutva.
“Are you a Hindu or not? Then why does the Congress label you as terrorists? Sonia Gandhi and her party are the real merchants of death, not me,” Modi said in Godhra on Wednesday. Before that, he gave a speech in Mangrol town on Tuesday in which he justified the killing of businessman Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a fake encounter.
But why is Modi making communal speeches so late in the election campaign? And are issues like Godhra irrelevant in this election? CNN-IBN’s Sagarika Ghose asked this on Face The Nation to Congress MP and spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, BJP spokesperson in Gujarat Yamal Vyas, and chief editor of Divya Bhaskar Ajay Umat.
Modi-speak
Modi is neither desperate nor has he made any communal speech, said Vyas. “If Sonia Gandhi can call the people who are running the Gujarat government merchants of death, Singhvi demand that Modi be tried before an international court and Digvijay Singh talk about Hindu terrorism, then Modi has every right to make a political statement.”
A sitting Chief Minister “brazenly admitting that he liquidated” Sohrabuddin Sheikh is not a political statement, countered Singhvi.
“Merchant of death is the most appropriate phrase for Modi going by what he has said. He is playing judge, jury and prosecutor and dividing the society communally,” Singhvi said.
Are Singhvi’s allegations correct? “Not at all,” said Vyas. “Sohrabuddin was a criminal, who was wanted in four states — there is no doubt about that. If Sonia Gandhi can call people running the Gujarat government merchants of death, then if Modi says Sohrabuddin was a criminal why should it be an offence?”
Thought behind bluster
Modi’s speeches are not brainless talk — there is a strategy behind them, said Umat.
“Modi began by talking about progress and ‘vibrant Gujarat’, but realised that voters are not buying it. So, out of frustration and desperation he has changed his speeches. Modi is strong in north and south Gujarat, but he is slipping in central Gujarat and Saurashtra,” Umat explained.
Modi’s strategy may work, as the Congress is hardly giving him any challenge. The party has no leader to match Modi and its organisational structure is in shambles. The Congress is talking about ideology and secularism, but does that impress voters in Gujarat?
Singhvi rejected talk of the Congress being in dire straits in the state and claimed the party’s campaign had “rattled” the BJP. “That is why Modi is indulging in these cheap tactics and histrionics.”
But will speaking about secularism and good intentions get Congress votes in Gujarat? “The Congress is talking about development, power, FDI and roads. But when Modi talks about liquidating Sohrabuddin it becomes a human rights issue — it’s not a Hindu-Muslim issue,” he said.
But that’s Modi’s trick—he wants Congress to talk about Sohrabuddin, Godhra and secularism. “He has not given a single election ticket to Muslims. The BJP is not even distributing voter slips to Muslims. He is abusing the Manmohan Singh government as the Delhi Sultanate,” said Umat.
“He has gradually talked about Taslima Nasreen, Pervez Musharraf, Mohammad Afzal Guru, terrorism and now Sohrabuddin. He is drawing the Congress into his trap — he wants the Congress to react,” Umat added.
What remains to be seen is whether Congress will play into Modi’s hands. “The Congress can’t keep quiet when Modi makes such statements. If we do then the media will say the Congress is not objecting — what a shame!” said Singhvi.
But considering recent political moves like West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya expressing regret for the violence in Nandigram, can’t Modi do the same for the 2002 riots?
There is no question of regret because Gujarat has “forgotten” what happened in Godhra in 2002 and the riots later, said Vyas.
Concluding the debate Vyas said, “We have moved ahead. The Godhra issue is being blown out of proportions. It’s only the media which is raking it up.”
SMS poll results: Are issues like Godhra irrelevant in this election?
No: 72 per cent
Yes: 28 per cent
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