Front Page   

Modi rebuffed at CII meet

By P.K. Bhardwaj

NEW DELHI Feb. 6. Godhra continues to dog the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, wherever he goes. The issue was raised again today during an interactive session hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). And as was to be expected, Mr. Modi hit out at his critics.

Mr. Modi reacted aggressively in the face of subtle and indirect references by industrialists, Jamshed Godrej and Rahul Bajaj, about the communal carnage in Gujarat. Without directly mentioning Godhra and the subsequent communal riots, both voiced concerns about the security and law and order situation in the `State of Mahatma Gandhi'.

`Unfounded charges'

Dismissing charges of communal bias and asserting that fears about the law and order situation were unfounded, Mr. Modi went on to accuse the CII of doing injustice to Gujarat. Referring to an earlier meeting held in Mumbai, he said these charges by industrialists were not being made for the first time.

Wondering at which platform he should answer these charges, Mr. Modi said he would wait for an opportunity to do so and went on to even challenge his hosts to ``bring your pseudo-secularists'' for a debate. ``If necessary, I will organise one such debate and speak. Everything would be cleared''. Gujarat was very safe and ``even a girl could move about on a scooter anytime''. He claimed that a `Congress Chief Minister' had given him a clean chit for effectively handling the situation.

The `Congress CM' had visited Ahmedabad in May with the party president, Sonia Gandhi, to seek Mr. Modi's resignation. When he invited the CM over for tea, she told him that the kind of fears about the situation entertained by her earlier had turned out to be `exaggerated' and that `great injustice was being done to him'. She even advised him to address the press and secure justice, he claimed.

Mr. Modi said the Planning Commission was expecting a growth rate of 10.2 per cent from Gujarat as against eight per cent for the entire nation. Last year, no bank had remained closed in Gujarat for even a day. The State was number one in excise collections, which meant that there was no law and order problem and factories functioned normally. He then turned to the industrialists and asked them if they still needed further elaboration. He pleaded that Gujarat not be maligned and that its strength as the `land of Gandhi and Sardar Patel' be recognised. Inviting industrialists to seize the opportunities offered by his State, he said the red carpet and not red tape awaited them.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Bangla immigrants go back
• No proof yet: Blix
• Govt. move on Ayodhya draws all-round flak
• SC orders Karnataka to release 4,500 cusecs a day to T.N.
• Dawood aides released by Dubai?
• Modi rebuffed at CII meet
• Musharraf rejects claim
• Godhra: cleric detained
• EC directive to TN
• Yasin Malik held
• Kumaon University V-C resigns
• HC dismisses petition on HPCL, BPCL sell-off

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu