New Delhi: There seems to be no end to the ongoing battle between Gujarat Governor Kamala Beniwal and Congress on one side and Chief Minister Narendra Modi on the other side. Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been alleging that the Governor has been trying to create problems for the state government by her unilateral actions while claiming that her moves have the approval of top Congress leaders.
The face-off between Modi and the Governor is seen as the start of the countdown to the 2012 Assembly elections in the state. The BJP is seen on a strong footing in the state with the Congress unable to throw up an alternative to Modi, who is seen as a clean and hard working leader by his supporters even as his opponents claim that he should be prosecuted for the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Modi, who has been accused of allowing communal polarisation of the state following the Sabarmati Express train burning incident at Godhra in and the riots that followed, has led the BJP to two massive victories in the 2002 and 2007 Assembly elections. Even in the 2004 and 2010 Lok Sabha elections the BJP won more seats that the Congress.
The riots cases have been lingering on and Modi has made the Supreme Court order directing the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to file its final report before the lower court in Ahmedabad and refusing to pass any order on his alleged inaction to contain the 2002 riots as an affirmation of his non-involvement in the carnage.
Modi and the BJP have been claiming that the Governor has been trying to run a parallel government as the Congress and his critics have been unable to prove his complicity in the riots case and so they have been using the Raj Bhawan to fulfill their hidden agenda of destabilising his government.
The Governor and Modi have been at loggerheads for the last three years which reached a flashpoint after she appointed Justice (Retired) RA Mehta as the Gujarat Lokayukta, which was vacant for the last seven years, without consulting Modi, which led to the Gujarat Chief Minister writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek her recall.
Now, the Governor has once again taken on Modi and sought the details of expenses incurred by him during his three-day Sadbhavna fast. She asked for the detailed expense report after Maha Gujarat Janata Party President Gordhan Zadafia met her. Zadafia had submitted an application stating that the rules of business of legislature had been violated by the Modi government.
She has also returned five bills passed by the Gujarat Assembly in the last three years, forcing Modi government to challenge her decisions in the High Court. Modi on Sunday while addressing massive rally claimed that the Governor was acting at the behest of the Congress to destabilise his government.
"Friends of the Congress are trying to run a second government in Gujarat through the Governor. People have been forced to come out on the streets to protest the conspiracy to dislodge my government," said Modi while demanding that she should be recalled.
Modi has been accusing the Centre of running a parallel government through the Raj Bhawan by unilaterally appointing the Lokayukta.
The expenses of Modi's three-day Sadbhavna fast were borne by the state government with the Congress alleging that it was just a public relations exercise.
The place where Modi fasted was fitted with air conditioners, comfortable sofas and also a bed for Modi to retire. The daily rental of the fast venue was Rs 5 lakh, which meant that the three-day fast cost Rs 15 lakh to the state. Moreover, Rs 30 lakh was reportedly spent on decoration, lighting, seating arrangement and other things.
Justice Mehta's appointment, too, has been challenged by the state government in the Gujarat High Court, which called the Governor's move as "unconstitutional and unilateral". Justice Mehta has already been issued a notice by the division bench of Justice Akil Kureshi and Justice Sonia Gokani.
The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for September 28, when the court will also hear the contempt petition against Modi for leaking his letter written to the Prime Minister to the media.
While the Congress has been targeting Modi government for the non-appointment Lokayukta since 2003 and has alleged that this has been done deliberately to hide cases of corruption, the BJP has taken on the Centre for its failure to stop and take corrective action in the several scams that have come to light over the last two years.
The Sadbhavna fast, its expenses, the 2002 riots and the Lokayukta issues are likely to become major elections issue with both the BJP and the Congress planning to use them to show the other side in poor light.
Modi has been successful in the last two Assembly elections and managed to blunt the Congress challenge by projecting himself as a protector of Gujarati pride and a pro-development leader. He has projected the development witnessed in the state a result of the clean and efficient administration provided by him and has been using reports by international agencies like the World Bank to buttress his claim.
But with the political temperature set to rise as the date of Assembly elections nears, the war of words between Modi and the Governor, and by default the Congress will only rise. The Congress, too, would not like to let go of any opportunity to take on Modi and reclaim power in the state, which has proved to be an impregnable fortress of the BJP.
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