Posts Tagged ‘Gandhinagar’
Written by admin on 16 September 2011
Gandhinagar, Sep 16 (IANS) A day ahead of his three-day ‘sadbhavana’ fast beginning Saturday, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi expressed confidence that his mission would lend further strength to the nation’s unity in diversity.
An official press release, issued on the eve of his three-day fast, stated that the chief minister has said that ‘India and Gujarat have realized that casteism and communal fanaticism does not serve anybody. Gujarat has risen over the distortions in society and national life to march on to the path of progress, peace, unity, harmony and brotherhood.’
Modi said that the Constitution of India is supreme for him. ‘There could be no favourite, no foe of a state’. As the chief minister, he said, ‘anybody’s suffering is my suffering. Providing justice to all is the state’s duty’.
He wished for everybody’s blessings ‘on this occasion to serve the people better.’
‘The 21st century did not begin well for Gujarat. In 2001, the devastating earthquake on our Republic day, took a very heavy toll. In the subsequent year, Gujarat became the victim of communal violence. We lost innocent lives, suffered devastation of property and endured lot of pain… However, Gujarat has come out of these difficulties and leapfrogged on the path of development,’ he added.
Tags: Gandhinagar, Gujarat
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Written by admin on 16 September 2011
Gandhinagar, Sep 16 (IANS) The Gujarat government is pulling out all stops to make Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day fast beginning in Ahmedabad Saturday a huge success even as his bete noir, Shankersinh Vaghela of the Congress is getting ready to settle on the pavement outside Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram here for a similar exercise.
Modi’s fast is part of his ‘mission sadbhavana’ after what his party claims is the clean chit given by the Supreme Court to him in the charges of conspiracy preferred by Zakia Jaffri, widow of late Congress MP Ehsan Jaffri who perished among the 69 people in the massacre at Gulberg Housing Society in Ahmedabad in the communal rioting that followed the 2002 Godhra train carnage. ‘It (the fast) is for communal and social harmony,’ Modi stated announcing his decision.
‘A pack of lies,’ countered Vaghela, who will be joined by two party leaders – Gujarat Congress chief Arjun Modvadia and leader of the opposition Shaktisinh Gohil – during the fast. The Congress leaders maintain that the Supreme Court has given no clean chit to Modi and ‘it is this pretentiousness, lies and corruption on his part and in his governance that we are fasting to expose’.
Meanwhile, the pastoralists – the Maldhari Ekta Samiti – which has already served an ultimatum to the Modi government will fast to protest cow slaughter. Praful Vaghela, whose son and nephew, students of the Asaram Gurukul, were found mysteriously killed leading to large scale protests and violence in Ahmedabad in 2008, will also be on fast, as will be members of the Gandhi sena out to counter the Modi fast.
Jagrutiben Pandya, wife of slain BJP leader Haren Pandya, said Friday that Chief Minister Narendra Modi has shown no sadbhavana (goodwill) towards Haren’s family. ‘I will garland Haren’s statue in Ahmedabad at 11.30 a.m. and will then go to the chief minister to remind him,’ she added.
Mallika Sarabhai, daughter of well-known space scientist late Vikram Sarabhai who is an activist in her own right, has announced that she will be feeding slum children on all the three days to voice her disgust at Modi’s ‘gimmickry’.
Social activists Rohit Prajapati and Trupti Shah expressed ire over the ‘tamasha’ by Modi and the Congress. ‘Modi has no business spending the tax payers money and the administration’s time and energy in such mindless gimmickry. If he is fasting as an individual then he or his party BJP should bear all the expenses from their account,’ Shah stated.
Though initially the Gujarat chief minister was supposed to fast at the Mahatma mandir in the state capital here, the venue was changed to the Gujarat University’s plush convention hall in Ahmedabad. The Indian Drug manufacturers who had booked the convention centre five months in advance for an international exhibition ‘Pharmac India 2011′ coinciding with the three days of Modi’s fast, were unceremoniously sent packing and have now shifted venue to the Mahatma mandir. The university had collected a rent of Rs.28 lakh from Pharmac. ‘Since the chief minister is doing it for peace and amity, we are not charging anything for it,’ Vice-Chancellor Parimal trivedi went on record to state.
Both the government and the party are leaving no stone unturned to make the event a great success. Party leaders, however, are reticent to speak on record about the expenses involved. However, corporators of the BJP-ruled Surat Municipal Corporation who were to leave on a tour have been directed to stay put as there is likely to be largescale movement of people to be taken to the fast venue.
A five-tier security ring is being put in place for the chief minister and the venue of the fast has been ringed with cops and turned into a fortress. Ahmedabad is already reeling under a terrorist threat and the fast is expected to lead to the weaning away of a lot of policemen for VVIP security duty, said a top police officer.
However, DGP Chittranjan Singh said that since the chief minister has Z-plus security, 36 NSG commandoes will be on round-the-clock duty. According to one estimate, about 1,000 policemen, both in uniform as well as in plain clothes, are being deployed in and around the chief minister’s fast venue. Top BJP leaders including L.K. Advani, Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shanker Prasad are among those slated to attend, besides the chief ministers from BJP-ruled states.
If Modi’s fast is largely seen as a political move being undertaken with the twin political objectives of the 2012 Vidhan Sabha elections in Gujarat and the 2014 general elections in his sights, the Congress led by Vaghela, who has recently been made the chairman of the Gujarat Congress election committee, has joined battle with the same objective in mind. ‘With Vaghela brought onto the scene, Modi will no longer have a free run in Gujarat as has happened on previous occasions,’ said a political analyst.
In fact, Vaghela had already announced that the Congress will launch its Vidhan Sabha election campaign in the state from Kutch on Sep 29 since the region represents the ‘nadir of corruption in Modi’s governance’.
Tags: Gandhinagar, Gujarat
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Written by admin on 15 September 2011
Gandhinagar, Sep 15 (IANS) Rubabuddin Sheikh, brother of Sohrabuddin Sheikh who was killed in a staged shootout by the Gujarat Police, has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further probe into the case in the light of the submissions made by a police officer.
In a letter to the CBI dated Sep 12, but made available Thursday, Rubabuddin has sought further investigation under section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the respect of the death of his brother, following the testimony of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Rajnish Rai before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
Rai, who was the first supervisory officer of the case, has made important disclosures relating to the case in his affidavit-in-rejoinder filed before CAT as well as on the issue of telephone call records.
‘Had CBI recorded the statement of Rai long back, erring officers like DGP (director general of police) P.C. Pande, Additional DGP O.P. Mathur and SP (superintendent of police) G.L. Singhal would have been apprehended long back and they would not be moving freely either to influence the witnesses or destroy the evidence,’ Rubabuddin’s application states.
According to the application, Rai’s affidavit-in-rejoinder has brought out that the then DGP Pande had delayed the preliminary enquiry for a period of six months in complete disregard of the supreme court’s orders.
He also alleged that a criminal conspiracy was hatched by and between then minister of state for home, Amit Shah and Pande to tamper with and destroy official records pertaining to Sohrabuddin case in the office of CID (Crime Branch) for the express purpose of hiding their role.
Rai had specifically alleged that police officer V.L. Solanki had disclosed the fact that Shah had directed the supervisory officer to tamper the record in presence of Pande, which according to Rai, indicates Pande’s complicity in the conspiracy to murder Tulsiram Prajapati – Sohrabuddin’s friend and the eyewitness to his murder.
Rai had also made several allegations against Mathur, the then ADGP and incharge of CID (Crime Branch).
Tags: Gandhinagar, Gujarat
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Written by admin on 15 September 2011
Gandhinagar, Sep 15 (IANS) The Congress party in Gujarat Thursday came out with a set of posers for Chief Minister Narendra Modi, describing his proposed ‘five-star’ fast as the shenanigan of a corrupt ruler and its own three-day stir as one directed against his misrule.
‘Our three-day satyagraha beginning September 17 — on the pavement outside the Sabarmati Ashram — is against the pretense, lies and corruption of Modi,’ five top Congress leaders said.
Former union minister Shankersinh Vaghela, opposition leader Shaktisinh Gohil, state party chief Arjun Modvadia, former state congress president Siddarth Patel and former deputy chief minister Narhari Amin made the joint statement while charging Modi with corruption in 17 scams running into thousands of crores of rupees.
The crores of rupees sought to be spent over Modi’s ‘five-star fast’, they said, was to divert the attention of the people from corruption-laced governance. ‘Gandhiji fasted, so did Anna Hazare, but not in an air-conditioned tent as proposed by him.’
The leaders wanted to know if Modi had ever thought of fasting for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Haren Pandya, who was assassinated in 2003.
They alleged that Modi had colluded with industrialists to dupe farmers.
Vaghela said that 5,000 farmers had committed suicide in Gujarat and six lakh waited for electricity for ten years. ‘There are restrictions on farmers drawing sub-soil water; however, industrialists face no such restrictions,’ he said.
‘We feel there is need to expose this hypocrisy and, therefore, we are going to observe a three-day fast at Gandhi Ashram from Sep 17,’ they said.
Tags: Gandhinagar, Gujarat
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Written by admin on 14 September 2011
Gandhinagar, Sep 14 (IANS) Congress leader and former union minister Shankersinh Vaghela is to go on a three-day fast from Sep 17 to counter Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s fast beginning on the same date, Congress sources said here Wednesday.
According to the sources, Vaghela will go on fast at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. He will be joined by Gujarat Congress chief Arjun Modvadia for the three days and the leader of opposition Shaktisinh Gohil symbolically for some time. A formal announcement of Vaghela’s fast is expected Thursday.
Vaghela has decided to undertake the fast to ‘expose the duplicitious nature’ of the Gujarat chief minister and the ‘pious platitudes he is mouthing after a propaganda mission that seeks to falsely make out that he has been given a clean chit by the Supreme Court in connection with the 2002 riots’, the Congress source said.
‘Modi has a habit of launching five-star fasts without any rhyme or reason to perpetrate lies as he has done earlier,’ Vaghela said, reacting to Modi’s announcement of the three-day fast.
Modi Tuesday announced the launching of a ‘Sadbhavana mission’ to strengthen social harmony and brotherhood and resolved to fast for three days in Ahmedabad from Sep 17.
Tags: Gandhinagar, Gujarat
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Written by admin on 14 September 2011
Gandhinagar, Sep 14 (IANS) A day after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said he is going on a three-day fast from Saturday for ‘peace and unity’, Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela Wednesday announced he will go on a three-day fast at Sabarmati Ashram from the same day.
Modi had announced he will go on a fast from Sep 17, his 61st birthday, in the name of ‘peace, unity and social harmony’.
The chief minister’s announcement came a day after the Supreme Court relief to him in the Zakia Jafri case relating to the 2002 riots. The apex court ruled that the trial court would decide on the case.
Tags: Gandhinagar, Gujarat
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