File photo: Former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi
The Congress today flayed Gujarat government for withholding its decision to seek death for former minister Maya Kodnani in a 2002 Gujarat riots case, saying there has been no change in the mindset of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his feelings about a community.
"It proves that Modi has not changed. He was like this in the past and will remain so in the future. There has been no change in his mindset and his feelings about a community," party spokesperson Meem Afzal said.
The rethink on Ms Kodnani and eight others came after pressure on Mr Modi, reportedly from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is the BJP's ideological mentor, and its other affiliates in Gujarat.
They were reportedly very upset at the state government's earlier decision to go ahead with the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team's recommendation to seek death penalty for Ms Kodnani, Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and eight others in the Naroda Patiya case.
The Congress, however, alleged that Mr Modi's decision on Ms Kodnani is aimed at diverting attention from the Chief Minister's "utter failure" in the Karnataka polls.
Taking a dig at BJP over its campaign against the government, the Congress today said there cannot be any compromise with the life of an individual. "The life of an individual is more than a scam of Rs one lakh crore," said Mr Afzal.
He charged the BJP with adopting different yardsticks on judicial observations. It wants the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on some Supreme Court observations but is mum on observations against Mr Modi by the High Court.
Reacting to the move, Mukhul Sinha, lawyer for the victims in the case, said, "Right from the beginning we have been saying that so far as the enhancement of the punishment from life sentence to death sentence is concerned nobody from the victim's side had ever demanded that.
"So, we were quiet surprised when the government took the decision. At that point of time also, we said that the decision was not so much to do with the legal aspects of the case but it was more to do with the politics."
CPI leader D Raja said, "Let the court take cognisance of all these matters and law should take its course. But the issue is not that, there are new evidences against Modi in Zakia Zafri case where police was prevented in acting to solve those killings. It is a serious matter".