Date:12/09/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/09/12/stories/2002091204050100.htm

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Cong. steps up offensive against Modi

By K.V. Prasad

NEW DELHI SEPT. 11. The Congress today stepped up its offensive against the Narendra Modi Government in Gujarat, demanding its dismissal and imposition of President's rule in the State.

The party also emphasised that Mr. Modi should be prosecuted for making inflammatory statements during the gaurav yatra. While taking him on, it did not spare the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, either.

The Congress launched a multi-pronged attack against the Modi Government, with a party delegation urging the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, to remove Mr. Modi and impose Central rule in the State.

The party delegation, led by the AICC general secretary, Kamal Nath, the Gujarat PCC chief, Shankarsinh Waghela, senior leaders Ahmed Patel and Suresh Pachauri and Congress MPs from the State, charged that apart from the "complete breakdown" of the constitutional machinery, the Modi Government had misused the official machinery during the yatra.

"Ever since the dissolution of the Assembly, the caretaker Chief Minister has repeatedly tried to divide the people'', the delegation said in the two-page memorandum submitted to Dr. Kalam this evening.

Briefing correspondents after a meeting with the President, Kamal Nath said the situation in Gujarat was such that "we have a dead Assembly and a live government''. He said that since the Constitution does not envisage a caretaker government, Mr. Modi should be dismissed and President's rule imposed without delay.

Earlier, Mr. Waghela, making a similar demand, charged that the BJP was out to create a Kargil war-like situation in Gujarat and was seeking to create deep divisions along communal lines.

Much of what Mr. Modi was doing in Gujarat had the support of senior BJP leaders and Mr. Advani in particular. "The responsibility for the evolution of conflict in Gujarat therefore, can be squarely put on Mr. Advani's shoulders, both as the representative of Gujarat and as the person with whom Modi is constantly in touch'', Mr. Waghela said at a separate press conference here.

He said the recent attempt to raise the issue of the Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin was at the behest of Mr. Advani. He likened the move to playing an old record.

At the AICC, the party spokesman, Anand Sharma, said Mr. Modi should be prosecuted since he was continuing with the "hate campaign and spewing communal venom'' to create a division and conflict for electoral benefit.

The party demanded that Mr. Advani clarify on this count since the government was responsible for upholding the Constitution.