Survey shows Narendra Modi in strong position

new delhi: let the opposition and nda allies keep demanding gujarat chief minister narendra modi's ouster. the bjp has reason to stick by him. a survey at the instance of the ministry of home affairs establishes that the bjp will win with a comfortable majority (52 per cent) if assembly polls are held in gujarat in the near future. the survey, conducted on april 3 and 4, was undertaken by officials involving the intelligence units of the state as well as the research and analysis wing of the central government, say sources. while the voting pattern reflects a communal divide in sensitive areas such as vadodara and ahmedabad, which have seen the worst communal flare-ups recently, other areas of south gujarat not affected by the riots see the hindu votes being divided between the congress and the bjp, say the sources. however, for the state as a whole, the bjp would emerge victorious, say the sources. interestingly, it was on april 4 that vajpayee was on a day-long trip to gujarat, where he castigated modi. he told modi in full glare of the media to follow the path of raj dharma and not discrimate among his praja . but during the national executive meeting of the bjp in goa on april 14, vajpayee justified the gujarat riots as a reaction to the godhra attack. while the gujarat unit of the bjp, in general, and modi, in particular, have expressed a keen desire to hold assembly polls soon, two factors have queered the pitch for the bjp. for one, given the volatile situation in gujarat, the election commission may not allow hustings to take place. secondly, one of the key allies of the bjp, the telugu desam party, has taken a tough stand against elections in the state. that is yet another worry for the bjp.