Tape nails Modi lie

Finally, the tape was unspooled. After repeatedly denying that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had made any anti-Muslim remarks during his Gaur...

Finally, the tape was unspooled. After repeatedly denying that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had made any anti-Muslim remarks during his Gaurav Yatra, the Gujarat government was caught on the backfoot on Sunday when a TV news channel played what it said was an audio tape of the CM8217;s speech.

BJP leaders and the state administration were thrown into a tizzy even as the Congress threatened to drag Modi to court, accusing him of provoking Muslims by making 8216;8216;derogatary remarks against them.8217;8217; And the state intelligence department had reportedly quoted Modi8217;s 8216;8216;objectionable utterances8217;8217; in the report it sent to the home department.

Some excerpts from the tape:

8226; 8216;8216;I told them the Congress I got the Narmada water in the month of Shravan, if they had it their way8230;they would have got it in Ramzan.8217;8217;

8226; 8216;8216;What should we do? Run relief camps for them? Do we want to open baby producing centres?8217;8217;

8226; Rewriting the family planning slogan as 8216;Hum paanch aur hamaare pachchis8217;, he said: 8216;8216;Gujarat has not been able to control its growing population and poor people have not been able to get money, food8230;reason being the long queue of children who fix punctures in tyres.8217;8217;

8226; 8216;8216;In order to progress, every child born in Gujarat needs education, manners and employment8230;that is the economy we need8230;and for this we will have to teach a lesson to those who are increasing the population at an alarming rate.8217;8217;

Gujarat government officials continued to offer inane excuses on Sunday. 8216;8216;I don8217;t know about the Star News channel playing the tape of the CM8217;s speech he is reported to have delivered at Becharaji on September 9. I have just returned from Delhi,8217;8217; Additional Chief Secretary Home Ashok Narayan said.

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8216;8216;The Government doesn8217;t have any tapes or text of the Chief Minister8217;s speech. I don8217;t know the TV news channel has a tape. I will check tomorrow,8217;8217; he stated.

Modi8217;s Principal Secretary, P K Mishra8217;s excuse was that he hadn8217;t been watching television. 8216;8216;Today being a weekly off, I had gone out for some personal work. I did8217;t watch TV. I can assure you the government doesn8217;t have any such tapes in its possession.8217;8217;

8216;8216;I am accompanying the Chief Minister on his Yatra, I had no time for TV,8217;8217; was Gujarat Gaurav Yatra convenor Jayanti Barot8217;s response. Replying to a query, he said, 8216;8216;If the channel really has the audiotape containing the CM8217;s speech, let it send it to the NCM.8217;8217; He continued to deny that Modi had made any such statements.

However, the Congress claimed the BJP leaders had been exposed thoroughly. Former GPCC chief Amarsinh Chaudhary said the tape had rendered false the BJP8217;s claim that Modi 8216;8216;never said it8217;8217;.

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8216;8216;The Congress may use the audiotape as clinching evidence against Modi and approach a court of law since his utterances amount to provocating a particular community in this communally-surcharged atmosphere,8217;8217; he said.