Modi breathes fire into BJP’s anti-terrorism campaign

MUMBAI: What Godhra ‘02 was to Narendra Modi in terms of electoral dividends, Mumbai 7/11 could be to the BJP in Maharashtra.

At least the saffron party seems to think so. Powered by the presence of its aggressive Hindutva mascot Narendra Modi in the city on Monday evening, the BJP virtually set off a political campaign against the Congress-led governments at the Centre as well in Maharashtra.

The Gujarat chief minister, who was in the city to pay homage to the persons killed in the 7/11 blasts, announced at an anti-terrorism rally organised by the Maharashtra BJP that the party would not let the deaths of 183 persons go waste.

“Their blood would surely have some repercussions,” Mr Modi declared amidst huge applause and standing ovation by a charged audience at Shanmukhananda Hall. He also appealed for maintaining peace and harmony.

The meeting had all the trappings of an election rally. All state BJP bigshots — Gopinath Munde, Nitin Gadkari, Eknath Khadse — chose to cash in on Mr Modi’s presence. Mr Munde announced that the BJP would turn Maharashtra into Gujarat by carrying out a massive awareness campaign against terrorism all across the state. Similar rallies would be held all over the state, he announced.

Hitting a high on Hindutva all over again, the BJP also effectively snatched the initiative from its more aggressive ally the Shiv Sena on the blasts. The Shiv Sena, ridden by a series of rebellions, has not been able to build an aggressive tempo on the blasts so far as it had during the ‘93 riots in Mumbai. Not a single Shiv Sena leader was on the dais, which only strengthened the feeling that the BJP is prepared to go solo on this issue.

Mr Modi directed his ire at the Centre, in particular Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In his marathon speech, not once did the Gujarat chief minister name any politician from Maharashtra, giving a pointer towards the national stature that he already enjoys in the BJP top echelons. Mr Modi criticised the Prime Minister for ruling out the need for tough laws like the POTA (Prevention of Terrorist Activities) Act which was introduced by the NDA government but repealed by the UPA government.

Earlier in the day, Samajwadi Party activists staged a demonstration near Shanmukhananda Hall in central Mumbai to protest the entry of Mr Modi into the city. Waving party flags and sporting black ribbons, the SP activists held placards ‘Narendra Modi wapas jayo’ (go back Narendra Modi).

Earlier, SP leader Amar Singh told reporters that his party would stage a demonstration to protest Mr Modi’s entry into the city as it feared that Mr Modi’s speech may incite communal passions.