Chennai:
Narendra Modi's three-day fast, which starts today, has provoked debate and in some corners, fierce criticism. Not from Jayalalithaa. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has deputed two senior leaders from her party, the AIADMK, to attend the first day of Mr Modi's fast in Ahmedabad. M Thambidurai, party leader in the Lok Sabha and his counterpart in the Rajya Sabha, V Maitreyan, would be in Gujarat. Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal will also join Mr Modi in Ahmedabad today at the state-of-the-art Convention Centre of Gujarat University. So will senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley. Actor-politicians Hema Malini and Smriti Irani will also be present.
No wonder Mr Modi tweeted yesterday, "Glad to see overwhelming solidarity for #Sadbhavana Mission. People also joining in large nos. thru' missed call on 022-61550770 (toll-free)."
The Gujarat Chief Minister announced his fast on Tuesday in an open letter. The declaration came as both he and his party declared a Supreme Court verdict related to the Gujarat riots of 2002 had vindicated Mr Modi.
On Monday, the court refused to take a stand on whether there is enough evidence to merit the Chief Minister's trial for alleged complicity in the riots, in which 1200 people died. The Supreme Court referred the matter to a local court in Gujarat, which will scrutinise records and interviews on the riots collated by different people commissioned by the Supreme Court.
Mr Modi saw in this a victory. "For the past ten years, it has become fashionable to defame me and the State of Gujarat," he wrote in his open letter. "These elements who could not tolerate any positive development of Gujarat have not left any stone unturned to defame Gujarat. It is difficult to say whether this campaign of defamation will stop even after the judgment of the Supreme Court. But one thing is certain that the credibility of those who have been spreading lies and defaming Gujarat has come to its lowest ebb."
His will not be the only fast Gujarat will witness on Saturday. Shankersinh Vaghela, who quit the BJP 15 years ago and is now with the Congress, has said his fast will begin before Mr Modi's and end two hours later. Mr Vaghela says his fast hopes to dispel the notion that Mr Modi has been given a clean chit by the Supreme Court.