New Delhi: A day after JD(U)'s bitter exit from the NDA, the BJP has now released a 2003 video which shows Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the then railways minister in the NDA government, praising Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. He is seen congratulating Modi for his electoral win and calling the Gujarat riots a sad incident which people must move on from.
The video has now led to a new war of words between the JD(U) and the BJP. In the video, Nitish said, "I hope that Narendra Modi will not confine his services to Gujarat and will soon serve the nation. The Gujarat riots were sad. But we have to move on. It's not right to focus only on one incident."
It is a huge change of stance from then to now with Nitish Kumar breaking the alliance over Narendra Modi. However, clarifying his speech on Monday, Nitish said whatever he spoke in that video was not political.
"When I used to visit other states as a railway minister, those speeches were never political. It's part of the protocol to praise the host state and not to speak against them," Nitish said....
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11:40 AM, Jun 17, 2013
Ahmedabad: After a U-turn by the Gujarat government on the death penalty for former minister Maya Kodnani and nine others, convicted in 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case, the SIT has decided to seek Supreme Court's guidance on the issue. "Very soon, we are going to file an application before the special bench of the Supreme Court apprising it about the recent Gujarat Government's decision to withdraw the sanction for filing...
06:42 PM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday flayed Gujarat government for withholding its decision to seek death for Maya Kodnani in the Naroda Patiya case, saying there has been no change in the mindset of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his feelings about a community. "It proves that Modi has not changed. He was like this in the past and will remain so in the future. There has been no change in...
02:14 PM, May 14, 2013
Ahmedabad: In a U-turn of sorts, the Gujarat state legal department has written to the chief prosecutor in the Naroda Patiya massacre case, seeking approval for enhancement of punishment for BJP leader Maya Kodnani and Bajrang Dal's Babu Bajrangi to be put on hold. The legal department wants the punishment to be put on hold until further instructions. Earlier the department had given a sanction to the Special Investigation Team...
08:51 AM, May 14, 2013
Ahmedabad: The lawyer of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has given a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2002 post-Godhra riots case after investigating complaint filed by Zakia Jafri, on Thursday said that "Modi has never said that go and kill people". Opposing the protest petition filed by Jafri against SIT's closure report, its lawyer RS Jamuar said, "(social activist) Teesta Setalvad and others...
08:53 AM, Apr 26, 2013
Ahmedabad: There is trouble for former Gujarat Women and Child Development Minister Maya Kodnani as the Special Investigation Team probing the 2002 riots will move the Gujarat High Court seeking death for her in the Naroda Patiya massacre case. The approval for this was given by the legal department of the Gujarat government. The SIT also wants death for Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and eight others convicted. 97 persons...
08:21 AM, Apr 17, 2013
New Delhi: The CPI(M) on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, saying Supreme Court documents on the 2002 communal carnage provide "clinching" evidence of his government's "deliberate refusal" to prevent the mass violence. "In the light of these documents which have now come into the public domain thanks to the efforts of Zakia Jafri, there can be no doubt left of the direct culpability of Narendra...
02:56 PM, Apr 16, 2013
Ahmedabad: Zakia Jafri, wife of 2002 post-Godhra riots victim and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, on Monday filed a protest petition in a local court seeking rejection of the SIT report giving a clean chit to Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others in the Gulberg Society riot case. The petition also sought further investigations into the case by an independent agency other than the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team and...
05:14 PM, Apr 15, 2013
Ahmedabad: Zakia Jafri, wife of 2002 post-Godhra riots victim Ehsan Jafri, is likely to file a protest petition in a trial court in Ahmedabad on Monday against the Special Investigation Team (SIT)'s closure report giving clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others in the Gulbarg Society massacre case in Ahmedabad. "Tomorrow (Monday) we are filing our protest petition against the SIT's closure report in our complaint against...
09:43 AM, Apr 15, 2013
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh has ruled out an apology for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the 2002 Gujarat riots. Speaking to Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate, Rajnath said Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister had to apologise for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots because of the comments Rajiv Gandhi had made then. Below is the transcript of an excerpt from the interview: Karan Thapar: Both...
09:30 AM, Apr 14, 2013
New Delhi: Launching another sharp attack on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who recently made a pitch for the Prime Minister's post, the Congress has virtually called him 'Yamraj' (Lord of Death in Hindu mythology). "Had he intended to indicate Narendra Modi, he would not have referred to somebody riding a horse but somebody riding a buffalo (Yamraj's vehicle as depicted in Hindu mythology). Rahulji has talked about somebody coming...
08:17 AM, Apr 06, 2013
Chicago: Organisers of the US delegation to India that met Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had canvassed for participants in the trip at prices ranging from $3,000 to $16,000, said a media report. The business delegation included four US members of the House of Representatives, all Republicans. The organisers had canvassed in the Indian American community for participants in the trip, according to a report published in Hi India, a...
09:57 PM, Mar 29, 2013
Ahmedabad: Gujarat Congress on Friday described Chief Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with a US delegation which included three Republican legislators as a marketing gimmick'. "This is nothing but a marketing gimmick by some global Public Relation firms to promote Modi," said state Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia on Friday. The delegation, led by Republican member in House of Representatives from Illinois Aaron Schock, called on Modi on Thursday. The delegation members...
07:49 PM, Mar 29, 2013
A US delegation of lawmakers and businessmen visited Gujarat and invited Chief Minister Narendra Modi to the US. However, this is not an official invite for the BJP leader. ...
06:59 PM, Mar 28, 2013
Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday got an invitation to visit the US as a small delegation comprising some American Congressmen met him in Ahmedabad. The invitation is a shot in the arm for the BJP leader who has in the past been denied a visa by the US administration over his alleged involvement in 2002 Gujarat riots. After meeting the US officials, Modi tweeted, "I spoke to...
04:49 PM, Mar 28, 2013
The Ahmedabad Crime Branch is likely to conduct an inquiry into activist Teesta Setalvad's collection of Funds for Gulbarg Society. The residents had alleged that Teesta had collected donations in the name of Gulbarg Society and had not distributed the money. ...
09:02 AM, Mar 13, 2013
Against the backdrop of the European Union ending decade-old boycott of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Germany on Tuesday sought to make distinction between human rights issues and image of the BJP leader, saying both cannot be linked. ...
02:48 AM, Mar 06, 2013
'Kai Po Che', based on Chetan Bhagat's book 'The 3 Mistakes of My life', explores the impact of the 2002 Gujarat riots on the lives of 3 friends. ...
11:59 PM, Mar 05, 2013
It's been 11 years since the Godhra riots, but apart from waiting for justice, victims' families are now facing what they call another injustice. At a function marking 11 years of the riots, at Ahmedabad's Gulbarg Society, activist Teesta Setalvad was missing from the memorial service. The human rights activist finds herself at the receiving end after a set of Gulbarg Society residents sent her a notice, asking her to...
10:05 AM, Mar 01, 2013
In a significant move, it appears that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has reassured European Union envoys that the 2002 riots would not be repeated. This came when Modi called on the German ambassador in Delhi on January 7. ...
09:32 AM, Feb 08, 2013
