Starting Tuesday in Gujarat: the BJP’s Operation Flood that’s guaranteed to keep the police and the Election Commission on their toes until December 12. The BJP will tomorrow unleash the united sights, sounds and colours of its election campaign on the state in the form of calendars, handbills, posters, stickers and almanacs that are replete with images of the burning Sabarmati Express, the Akshardham temple and Narendra Modi as the ‘‘saviour of the interests of five crore Gujaratis’’. The party has reportedly allocated an expenditure target of Rs 1 lakh per candidate for the publicity material. It includes a Hindu calendar (Vikram Samvat 2059) that uses the burning train and Akshardham images thrice—on the January-February 2003, May 2003, August-September 2003 pages. There’s also a ‘‘Narmade Sarvade’’ picture of the overflowing dam, Modi and Keshubhai Patel. There’s the message ‘‘Gujarat don’t be afraid, don’t bow to terrorism’’. On one of the pages, you can see Modi flanked by Vajpayee and Advani and the words: ‘‘There’s happiness in security, let’s bring BJP in majority’’. Images of the train and Akshardham are also splashed across the last page of the almanac. ‘‘An almanac is something every Hindu keeps in his house,’’ said a source in the BJP. ‘‘That’s why a large number of them have been printed—more than 1.5 crore.’’ The VHP is in sync with the BJP here—audio cassettes containing Godhra rhetoric by Pravin Togadia and Acharya Dharmendra as well as 10,000 VCDs containing their speeches are being distributed in villages across Gujarat, sources said. The VHP has also fanned out stickers depicting a burning coach of the Sabarmati Express and Akshardham and asking people to ‘‘pay tribute to the deceased by casting votes on December 12.’’ The State Home Department has directed the police to trace the source of the ‘‘provocative’’ publicity material. ‘‘The matter has been brought to my notice and I have directed State DGP K Chakravarthi to check if the poll-related material has the potential of spreading communal hatred,’’ Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Ashok Narayan said. Has the EC directed the Government to stop the distribution of such material as well? ‘‘The EC has already issued a directive to the state administration to ensure that the model code of conduct is strictly enforced. We have to act if the material is found objectionable,’’ Narayana said. BJP treasurer Surendra Patel refused to comment on the EC’s potential crackdown. ‘‘This is a war. We can’t reveal strategy.’’ Patel dramatically declared. ‘‘We will accept all of the EC’s decisions till December 15. We’ll then meet President A P J Abdul Kalam and request him to immediately remove James Lyngdoh as the EC in the interest of the country.’’
