Brave, Chief Minister Modi

Congratulations to Gujarat BJP Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his spectacular victory in the Gujarat assembly elections (I-W, Dec. 28). He not only defeated Sonia Gandhi's Congress party but also Gujarat's number one enemy, the biased media, which worked very hard for the last five years to paint a negative picture of Modi by blaming the 2002 Gujarat riots on him while ignoring the Godhra train where 60 Hindus were burned alive, the previous riots in Gujarat under Congress rule, and most importantly, the highest economic growth of Gujarat in India with no riots in five years under Modi.

The media also ignored the 1984 Delhi riots where thousands of Sikhs were killed, and daily riots elsewhere in India. In spite of Sonia's calling Modi "Maut Ka Saudagar," Gujarat gave a tremendous boost to Modi's victory because Gujaratis took it as a direct insult to Gujarat. Those BJP rebels, supported by former BJP chief ministers Keshu Patel, Suresh Mehta, and Uma Bharti; BJP member of parliament Rana, and VHP general secretary Togadia, who used name-calling rhetoric to defeat Modi, failed because Gujaratis made a good note of this nonsense in favor of Modi and humiliated them very badly by giving a resounding victory to Modi, a one-man army.

There were some other issues which helped Modi, such as Congrss's UPA central government for its softness to terrorists by removing POTA, which was a very effective tool to fight terrorists. Gujaratis got scared by this UPA action and knew that only Modi would protect their safety and security from becoming refugees in their own land and perhaps live in tents like the Kashmiri Hindus, who are living in tents for the last 20 years.

Gujaratis made a good note of the 2 rupee coin where the map of India was replaced by a Christian cross in the back of the coin. If the BJP government had put the Hindu symbol Om, there would have been riots all over India. What kind of secularism is this?

Those who brand themselves as people in favor of communal harmony had lobbied to cancel Modi's visa to visit the United States where a majority of NRIs are Gujaratis; it turned out to be a very bad move for communal harmony. Gujaratis reacted very angrily and became very sympathetic to support Modi.

Now that Modi is victorious, those who call themselves a minority should become partners in Gujarat's progress and share the good living standards with all Gujaratis and support Modi's vision.

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