Yatra: On final leg, Modi loses out on steam

The reason Narendra Modi claims he is undertaking the Gaurav Yatra — to restore the pride of Gujarat — does not seem to go down well with people anymore. Except for a few new sentences, his Musharraf-bashing has become a cliche and the speeches are repetitive.

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VADODARA/ AHMEDABAD: A dozen people, including a policeman, were injured following stone-throwing and police firing in Dabhoi town on Sunday triggered by an attempt to reconstruct a dargah. A dozen people have been arrested. Five people were also injured in a blast that in a building in Bapunagar. Grenade found AHMEDABAD: A grenade was found in a circuit house in Gandhinagar on Sunday setting off scare in the state capital as well as here. The grenade was defused by the anti-bomb squad. Story continues below this ad CM finishes yr in office GANDHINAGAR: Narendra Modi, whose tenure as CM of Gujarat has been marred by communal riots, completes one year in office on Sunday. He took over as CM on Oct 7 last year after the high command decided to replace Keshubhai Patel in the wake of reverses in by-elections suffered by the BJP. (Agencies)

And though the Akshardham attack has provided him with something new to talk about, Modi keeps returning to his original theme. So much so that during the fourth leg of Modi’s yatra that set off from Ambaji on Saturday and reached Surendranagar tonight, crowds found it difficult to relate to what he was saying.

Modi often referred to ‘‘biscuit chor’’ and ‘‘mineral water chor’’ — speaking of those who stole relief material during the earthquake — but one and a half years on, few people remembered that. Any connection of that to restoring the state’s pride was hard to find.

Also, his oft-repeated statement that the Congress has projected Gujaratis as murderers, rapists and arsonists seemed too dated now that months have passed since the post-Godhra riots as well.

‘‘Most of the people have heard the same statements on local news channels and read in newspapers. By repeating them, Modi is unable the interest his audiences,’’ Surendra Parmar, a Patan-based hotelier observed.

Modi’s Congress-bashing and anti-Musharraf campaign has become so passe that children at a huge gathering in Radhanpur knew it by heart. His attempts to blame the Congress for trying to get the board exams postponed and the Ahmedabad Rathyatra cancelled, too, are not well-received.In Radhanpur, where there is a sizeable Muslim population, Modi said that Muslims in Gujarat were much safer and prosperous than those in Pakistan.

In its fourth phase, the yatra touched Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Patan and Surendranagar districts. Moving around with enhanced security — after the Akshardham attack — Modi has changed strategy to keep masses waiting for him everywhere.While he arrives at a venue and does the ‘Narmada Sarvade’ part, he is sending Narmada Nigam chairman Bhupendrasinh Chudasma everywhere ahead of him to make speeches on Narmada.

Finding that crowds tend to leave if his rath is late by one or two hours, he has also sought the services of famous folk singer Abhaysinh Rathod who regales crowds for hours together while they wait for the CM to arrive.

With the yatra moving in many areas with large Muslim populations, on the second day of the fourth phase, Modi did not make statements against minority community.