Sacking Modi: we thought, then did rethink, says PM

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said that at one stage, he had considered the idea of a change in the Gujarat leadership but decided against it since it was his ‘‘assessment’’ that removing Chief Minister Narendra Modi wouldn’t have helped—it could ‘‘rather (have) led to more violence.’’

2 CYCLISTS STONED TO DEATH

Ahmedabad: A mob stoned to death two men who were cycling through Dor Bazaar in Ahmedabad this morning. The victims were passing through the market when they were stopped, beaten up and then stoned to death, said the police. The toll since Sunday morning in Ahmedabad alone is now nine. Trouble was also reported from Mirzapur in the city, when a mob gathered near a mosque threw two crude bombs at the police. Indefinite curfew continued in Danilimda and Shahpur, where several incidents of arson had been reported on Sunday. —ENS Story continues below this ad

Vajpayee was replying to the 17-hour debate on Gujarat in the Rajya Sabha where an Opposition censure motion was accepted by the Government thereby avoiding a defeat in case of a division.

‘‘Based on my interactions and observations during my visit abroad (Singapore and Cambodia) and before leaving for Goa (for the national executive) I had made up my mind that a change in the situation was required,’’ he said.

However, he added: ‘‘It was my own assessment that removal of Modi would not help and the Opposition should trust him.’’

‘‘In retrospect,’’ he said, ‘‘we feel that it was a right decision.’’ He also asked the Opposition to suggest ways other than Modi’s removal to help bring Gujarat back to normalcy.

Vajpayee said that the government had supported the Opposition motion—seeking Central intervention in the state under Article 355—out of a genuine seriousness and not because of any compulsions.

Congratulating House Vice-chairman Krishan Kant, he said: ‘‘Passing the resolution in one voice demonstrated a spirit of adjustment, reconcilation and resilience.’’ And that he hoped that the country got this message of unanimity.

Ruling out immediate prospects of Assembly elections in the state, Vajpayee dismissed the criticism over his remarks on Gujarat. He said that in Gwalior, he was asked whether a notice would be issued to the Gujarat government under Article 355. ‘‘I said the debate is on in Parliament and in effect, this itself is a notice to the Gujarat government,’’ he said.

In Goa, he said, he had not decried I slam or Muslims but had only talked in context of growing global worries about rise of extremism in some countries. Vajpayee said he had disapproved of militant Hinduism at a book release function in New Delhi adding that he accepted the Hindutva of Swami Vivekananda, not the type of militant Hindutva that was being propagated now.

‘‘Gujarat was a blot on our fair name and no amount of explantions can wash it off, he said.

Though mildly, Vajpayee blamed the Opposition for ‘‘raising bogeys of communalism and rising trend of fascism’’ as they wanted to grab power.

Congress leader Arjun Singh however reiterated that the opposition would cooperate with Vajpayee on Gujarat only if he sacked Modi. Manmohan Singh also dismissed Vajpayee’s assertions and said Gujarat was continuing to reel under violence and communal hatred.

Earlier, there was a ruckus for 20 minutes following an argument between Law Minister Arun Jaitley and Congress members over a report in The Indian Express on Sunday that contradicted the Minister’s claims regarding arrests and police firing.

The problem arose when senior Congress leader Arjun Singh referred to the report and Jaitley rose to give a ‘‘personal explaination.’’

But Congress MPs tried to prevent the Minister from doing so.

Chairman Krishna Kant allowed Jaitley to make a brief intervention in which he said that he stood by the figures of arrests, killings and registration of rape incidents by the police which he had earlier furnished to the House.

He gave details of two cases of rape registered by the government and said a large number of people arrested under preventive clauses had been freed by the courts leading to the possible decline in the number of apprehended people.