Why Akshardham not included, asks Modi
It's discriminatory and unjust, says Chief Minister
Centre's riot relief package rocks Gujarat Assembly

The Gujarat Assembly witnessed uproarious scenes here on Friday and the House had to be adjourned twice as ruling BJP members castigated the relief package announced by the UPA Government for the victims of the 2002 riots in the State.

Later, Chief Minister Narendra Modi termed the Centre's decision as "biased, unjust and politically motivated". It is an insult to the people of Gujarat and they will respond appropriately, he added.

Political analysts here feel that while the Centre's announcement may have been done with an eye on minority votes in the ensuing Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, it has inadvertently given the ruling BJP in Gujarat an issue to take up during the election in the State, which is due later this year. "Modi should be a happy man today for he now has an issue to take to the people," said a veteran Congress leader.

That the day's Assembly session would be stormy became evident in the morning itself as the package remained the centre of discussion in the Secretariat as legislators gathered for the day's proceedings. The issue erupted first in the morning as the House came to order with Pragji Patel of the BJP demanding that the Question Hour be waived and the subject be taken up for discussion. However, the plea was turned down by Speaker Prof Mangaldas Patel.

Immediately after question hour, BJP MLA Sunil Oza was on his feet terming the package as a reflection of the anti-Hindu psyche of the UPA Government. As the Congress legislators sought to speak, the ruling party members were on their feet leading to heated arguments and slogan shouting. As the Speaker's plea for order went unheeded, he adjourned the House for 15 minutes. When it re-assembled, there was no change in the situation as slogan shouting continued "UPA sarkar hai hai, Congress hai hai, Hindu virodhi sarkar hai hai". With no signs of any let up in the chaos and slogan shouting, the Speaker again adjourned the House till recess.

Later, talking to mediapersons, the Chief Minister termed the announcement of the UPA Government as patently biased, grossly unjust and totally motivated by political considerations.

He said that if the Centre was so very concerned about the riot victims then it should extend the package to all the 11,000 victims of the riots since 1984 in the State.

He sought to term it as politicking at its worst and said that the announcement amounted to an insult to the people of Gujarat. They will respond adequately and the answer will be there for everyone to see", he added.

Later, leader of the Congress legislature party Arjun Modvadia welcomed the package and said that it was for all the riot affected people covering both Hindus and Muslims. Responding to the Chief Minister, he said that the State Government should first announce the package for all the riot affected since 1984 and it would urge the Centre to match it.

The UPA Government had on Thursday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3.5 lakh to the next of kin of the 1,169 people killed in the State during the 2002 riots seeking to bring compensation to them at par with those of the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. This would be in addition to the amount already received by them from the State Government.