Author: PTI
Publication: The Times of India
Date: September 16, 2011
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Narendra-Modis-fast-tomorrow-Jaya-sends-emissaries-Badal-to-come/articleshow/10008409.cms
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi kicks
of his three-day fast tomorrow with support also coming from his counterparts
from Tamil Nadu and Punjab -- Jayalalithaa and Prakash Singh Badal-- and Shiv
Sena leaders.
Badal, leader of key BJP ally Shiromani Akali
Dal, will be personally present on the first day of the fast while the AIADMK
chief is despatching two emissaries M Thambidurai and V Maitreyan.
The BJP leadership including L K Advani will
be in strength at the fast venue at the state-of-the-art Convention Centre
of Gujarat University here, as hectic last minute preparations were underway
today.
However, it is not clear whether the other
NDA constituents, especially the JD(U), would be following Badal's example.
After the Supreme Court verdict in a Gujarat
riots case on Monday that gave him some relief, Modi announced a fast for
three days calling it a 'Sadbhavna Mission' for peace, unity and harmony in
the state.
State BJP spokesperson Vijay Rupani told
reporters that Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh will be also
present. BJP President Nitin Gadkari will not be present as he is recuperating
after undergoing a gastric by-pass surgery.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Shahnawaz Hussain, Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi, Hema Malini and Smriti Irani will be among other party leaders
who will attend the fast.
"Besides, NDA allies like Akali Dal's
Punjab's chief minister Prakash Singh Badal and Shiv Sena leaders will also
come," he said, adding, "Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaji
has supported Modi's fast and will be sending two emissaries M Thambidurai
and V Maitreyan."
Modi and Jayalalithaa share good vibes and
the BJP leader had attended the swearing-in ceremony of the AIADMK leader
when she took over as chief minister in May this year.
Official sources told PTI in Chandigarh that
Badal will visit Ahmedabad tomorrow and return the same evening after attending
the ceremony.
In an apparent countermove, the Congress
is also launching a parallel fast.
In comparison to Modi's venue, a modest stage
was erected on the footpath opposite the Sabarmati Ashram for Congress leaders
including Shankarsinh Vaghela to undertake the fast.
Congress has sought permission for a gathering
of only 500 people, while the GU Convention Centre has the capacity to house
25,000 people.
Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said the
party has made modest arrangements for the fast to held on a footpath.
"We have only erected a stage on which
our leaders will sit, while our supporters will be on the road," he said.
The party had yesterday dubbed Modi's fast
as a "five star fast to be held in an air-conditioned hall".
According to sources in the Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC), a small room at the GU Convention Hall has been converted
into a rest room for Modi.
Gujarat government has also made specific
arrangements to provide real time information about what would be happening
at Modi's fast venue.
People have been asked to give a missed call
on a toll free number to get live updates of the action at the venue through
SMS.
The entire three-day event can be witnessed
by those with internet access through live webcast on Modi's official website.
Meanwhile, the police commissioner's office
has received a number of applications seeking permission to fast with Modi
at different places in the city.
The applications are under process and most
probably permission would be given if there is no security problem, city police
commissioner Sudhir Sinha said.
Tight security arrangements have been made
at fast venues of Modi and Vaghela, Sinha said.
