Going gets tough for Narendra Modi

'BJP in Mask Modi' has a cocky Congress chuckling. Barely has the parliament session got underway that the Congress is hurling the "are you with Modi's party?" query at 'secular' rivals. The debate on price rise apart, it is clear that the main opposition will stay away from the saffron stands. Sushma Swaraj belied the party's fears in public when she told reporters that the arrest of Amit Shah on the eve of the monsoon session was a Congress strategy to divide the opposition. The Left's stand — that while the misuse of the CBI by the centre is a concern, the Sohrabuddin case was different — confirms the BJP's fears. With Modi at the forefront of the debate, anti-Congress outfits would be wary of being tainted by association.

Fake encounters are not new or unheard of in India. They're de rigueur in the rough and tumble of Indian crime and lawenforcement . What is new, however, is that no other encounter has carried the potential to impact politics like this one promises to, evident from the way both the Congress and BJP central leaderships have jumped into the fray.

Going gets tough for Narendra Modi

It appears now, in the wake of the heat generated over the Sohrabuddin case, that political ground rules could be redefined in perhaps the most significant way since the Mandal-Mandir confrontation altered the political landscape. A cornered Modi, and a Modi-fied BJP, could decisively eclipse the saffron outfit that rode to national prominence on a hardline Hindutva line but found sustenance in the moderate pill administered by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The events that have unfolded since CBI sleuths allegedly found evidence incriminating Amit shah in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter are potent pointers as to what may lie ahead for the BJP. First, and most importantly, it may expose the Modi regime's brazenly devised encounters-fornational security policy as something that was actually driven by nothing more than greed and corruption. It may show that the brave gunmen killing in the name of fighting Islamic terror are perhaps just a band of thugs. Modi has all along argued that Sohrabuddin was no angel but the central probe agency is building a case to prove that the saffron regime is no saviour either.

Amarinder wants Narendra Modi out

chandigarh: punjab chief minister amarinder singh and haryana chief minister op chautala, on tuesday, raised the issue of communal violence in gujarat separately. while amarinder demanded the immediate removal of gujarat chief minister narendra modi for his ''utter failure in controlling communal riots in gujarat" which led to loss of innocent lives, chautala described the incidents of communal violence as most unfortunate. accusing modi and his administration of playing a partisan role in the riots,amarinder said modi had lowered the prestige of the high office he held. he alleged that the centre saw the situation worsen, yet chose to ignore. "modi should either quit on his own or be sacked immediately," said amarinder singh, arguing that he had no right to continue as the chief minister if he could not ensure the safety of people and their property. amarinder singh pointed out that modi had been literally indicted by the national human rights commission and others for his inept handling of the situation and partisan role. ''the violence in gujarat is not under control even after 40 days. ''modi is a blot on indian secularism and a disgrace to the office of the chief minister," he said. amarinder alleged that modi had indulged in communalisation of the administration and thus had completely paralysed the law and order machinery in the state. urging modi to step down, amarinder said that he should voluntarily quit owning moral responsibility, to strengthen the values of democracy and secular forces. chautala, while addressing mediapersons in narwana on tuesday, said those trying to make castles by killing innocent people were traitors. he said it was high time that such incidents stopped as these had already tarnished the image of the country.

Law of diminishing returns for Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: As Gujarat heads for an Assembly election, chief minister Narendra Modi's clout appears to have begun to diminish in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

An internal assessment of the party shows that there has been about 7 per cent swing away from the party among members of the influential Patel community.

Therefore, party sources say, former chief minister Keshubhai Patel has been made chairman of both the campaign committee and the election planning and management committee for the state to send a signal to the Patels that the BJP intends to give Keshubhai as important a role as Modi, if not greater.

Sources claim that there is now an awareness in New Delhi that it was Modi's "whisper campaign '' — during his stint as party general secretary in Delhi — that led to Patel's replacement as chief minister. Another indication of Modi's diminishing importance was demonstrated when he was not permitted to have his way in the matter of former state minister Haren Pandya, whom he wanted expelled for criticising him.

The compromise was: Pandya was dropped from the government.

Though Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani's unstinted support of Modi remains unchanged, the Prime Minister's unhappiness with the Gujarat chief minister is now gaining more adherents in the party. A senior party functionary says, this is "not on ideological grounds but because of his (Modi's) abrasive personality". For, Modi has not just tangled with Patel and Pandya, but also the party's organisational general secretary, Sanjay Joshi.

Even HRD Minister M M Joshi described Modi's swipe at Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyndgoh's faith as "improper" at an RSS function.

Also, RSS Spokesperson MG Vaidya in a signed article in Panchjanya, an RSS mouthpiece, hailed Congress state chief SS Vaghela — a former RSS man — as a "Hindutva hero" and said Pandya's ouster had upset the state unit.

The Prime Minister himself echoed Joshi's comments about Modi.

Party sources now say that Vajpayee, who had failed to get Modi to step down at the Goa national executive in April, is now trying to garner support for his line on Gujarat. Indeed, party sources belonging to the anti-Modi group in Gujarat say that the possibility of President's rule cannot be ruled out, in case the Supreme Court backs the Election Commission's line on the subject.

"This will provide a natural end to Modi's rule in the state. He will certainly remain a top campaigner for the party because he is a 'necessary evil'.

But he may just be one of the top campaigners, instead of being the Hindu hriday samrat," said a Central minister.

Narendra Modi diagnosed with swine flu

One minister said: "He should not have taken the meeting if he was being suspected of having swine flu. He could have waited for the results of the test."

Reports about Modi having had started trickling in on Thursday evening. However, the government had refused to confirm it. Once the first test gave a positive result, another confirmatory test was carried out late on Thursday.

Modi's samples were taken after he showed symptoms of cough, cold and fever, Atul Patel, one of the four doctors in the team looking after the chief minister, said, PTI reported.

The government has earlier tried to hide his identity and the sample was labelled with a different name- "Ramesh".

Modi, who returned on Wednesday, will be kept in isolation for seven days at his residence, where a team of doctors are attending on him.

All his public functions have been cancelled.