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Journalism of Courage
Barely a couple of days after two of his party colleagues 8212; general secretary Arun Jaitley and treasurer Ramdas Agrawal 8212; had protested to him for 8216;8216;having put Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the dock8217;8217; by publicly distancing himself from his anti-Muslim remarks, BJP president Venkaiah Naidu came out strongly in defence of the Chief Minister today.
Though he could not reverse his stand on the anti-Muslim remarks issue while delivering the inaugural address at the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha BJYM national executive meeting, he sought an end to the controversy. He maintained: 8216;8216;Why must I speak on the same issue every morning and evening? It is not fair to blow issues out of proportions.8217;8217;
This done, he went on to remind his audience of the 8216;8216;massive response Narendra Bhai8217;s Gaurav Yatra is evoking.8217;8217; He added with a bit of sarcasm that 8216;8216;even the English media is forced to acknowledge that he is attracting 50,000-80,000 people to his public meetings, though the actual number is 1.5 lakh.8217;8217;
The Congress, according to him, was free to move the court against Modi. Ridiculing the Opposition demand for Modi8217;s resignation, Naidu asked: 8216;8216;What is their problem? What is wrong with his face? Don8217;t they like his beard?8217;8217;
Naidu pointed at Congress leaders8217; claim that Modi8217;s defeat was certain and asked: 8216;8216;If they are so sure of victory, why delay it?8217;8217;
8216;8216;People,8217;8217; he maintained, 8216;8216;are the best judge. Let them decide.8217;8217; He said 8216;8216;pseudo-secularists8217;8217; are trying to come together in Gujarat. 8216;8216;It will be good for them as well as us,8217;8217; he said.
Naidu, however, advised party members not to dwell on the videshi-swadeshi issue and said: 8216;8216;We will see it at the time of elections.8217;8217;
