The warmth of old friendship mixed with sarcasm of a political rival, senior Congress leader and Narendra Modi’s staunch critic Shankarsinh Vaghela delivered a stirring farewell speech on Wednesday that elicited a resounding applause from the House, but it could prove to be an embarrassment to the Congress.
Burying the hatchet, Mr. Vaghela showered Mr. Modi with praises, even going to the extent of saying the PM-designate was wrongly blamed for the 2002 Gujarat riots. Raking up the Godhra riots, Mr. Vaghela said Morarji Desai, former Prime Minister from Gujarat, was Deputy Collector of Godhra in 1927 when riots took place. “He was accused of partisanship. He later joined politics and became Prime Minister,” Mr. Vaghela said at a special session of the Assembly convened to bid farewell to Mr. Modi.
Mr. Vaghela read out a to-do list for Mr. Modi. He said the Ram Temple issue had taken a backseat during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s regime because of the National Democratic Alliance and urged Mr. Modi to revive it. “I have very high expectations from him [Mr. Modi]. The BJP has a majority of its own. If the NDA comes on board good enough, else build a Ram Temple in Ayodhya within the constitutional framework,” he said.
Correction
A sentence in “Vaghela lauds Modi” (May 22, 2014) read: “Raking up the Godhra riots, Mr. Vaghela said Morarji Desai, former Prime Minister from Gujarat, was Deputy Collector of Godhra in 1969 when riots took place.” The correct year is 1927. In 1927, Morarji Desai was the Deputy Collector of Godhra as an officer of the Bombay Provincial Civil Services. Communal riots broke out during his tenure and he was accused of bias. He quit the post in 1930.
