FROM TOI WEBSITE
On Monday, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi owned up to killing Sohrabuddin, saying he "got what he deserved", to packed crowds at a rally in Mangrol, in south Gujarat. Within 24 hours, on Tuesday, the issue — an emotive one and seen as a return of the communal agenda — vanished from his speeches as he addressed rallies in central Gujarat, including Godhra. But, this was no aberration: There is a method in Modi's apparent madness. While in rebellion-ridden Saurashtra or Surat, where he has failed to cast a spell, he threw the Sohrabuddin bait; but once out of rebel strongholds, he bypassed Sohrabuddin and talked in general terms about terrorism. In short, Sohrabuddin was the rallying point in places where Leuva Patels have risen in rebellion against Modi, and which didn't see much bloodshed, post-Godhra. He resurrected Sohrabuddin, the man his government branded a terrorist and killed in a fake encounter, according to its own admission before SC. Sohrabuddin's dead wife Kauserbi has become Modi's biggest weapon to fight the Congress/ rebels with, who are now fighting on Congress tickets mainly from Saurashtra and South Gujarat. Modi knows only too well that development won't sell in these parts because the rebels have already burst his development bubble. Places like Visavadar, in Junagadh, where a Keshubhai Patel man is fighting on a Congress ticket; Wadhwan in Surendranagar where rebel BJP MLA Dhanraj Kella is contesting as an Independent; Jamnagar and Mangrol in South Gujarat, are the places where Modi has told the crowds how his police killed Sohrabuddin. His speeches usually end with a submission: "The Congress is ruling at the Centre, it can hang me!" But watch him in Panchmahals — where the intensity of riots in 2002 has ensured a clear polarisaton and there's no sign of dissidence — and Modi is back with his tirade against terrorism, aimed a wooing back the estranged VHP members. RK KA SALAM
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