Muslim supporters of Narendra Modi cut a huge cake to celebrate his birthday in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad:
It's Narendra Modi's 63rd birthday, and the theme is secular.
Four days after the BJP announced that Mr Modi will be its candidate for Prime Minister for the 2014 general elections, the Gujarat Chief Minister and his party are using the occasion for a spot of political consolidation.
The Gujarat Chief Minister began the day with a visit to his 95-year-old mother and then drove straight over to look up old rival Keshubhai Patel.
At a felicitation in the evening, he targeted the UPA government repeatedly, saying, ""For the first time, the common man is waiting for elections. They are getting restless. It should happen fast so that the government is uprooted". (read)
The BJP, meanwhile, organised a recruitment drive with special emphasis on inducting one lakh Muslim youth.
In Gujarat, a group of Muslims linked to the BJP celebrated the Chief Minister's birthday with a giant 64-kg cake. Similar cake-cutting ceremonies were held in a few other cities.
In Mumbai, the party's minority cell organised a gathering at the historic Makhdoom Shah Baba mausoleum or Mahim Dargah where Muslims prayed "for Mr Modi's long life."
As Mr Modi makes a bid to be Prime Minister next year, he needs to win friends and influence people. In that effort, he is also attempting to turn a debate over his secular credentials on its head.
He is accused by political rivals of being a divisive leader, but his party insists that Mr Modi enjoys support among minorities too.
At a massive rally in Jaipur last week, Muslims were requested by the BJP to attend wearing burqas and skull caps to make their presence obvious.
Then, on Sunday, Mr Modi said at a rally of ex-serviceman in Haryana that politicians should learn a lesson in secularism from the Indian armed forces.
The Gujarat Chief Minister is accused of not doing enough to stop the communal riots that mangled his state in 2002, leaving hundreds of people, mostly Muslims, dead. Those accusations have not been proved in court.
Four days after the BJP announced that Mr Modi will be its candidate for Prime Minister for the 2014 general elections, the Gujarat Chief Minister and his party are using the occasion for a spot of political consolidation.
The Gujarat Chief Minister began the day with a visit to his 95-year-old mother and then drove straight over to look up old rival Keshubhai Patel.
At a felicitation in the evening, he targeted the UPA government repeatedly, saying, ""For the first time, the common man is waiting for elections. They are getting restless. It should happen fast so that the government is uprooted". (read)
The BJP, meanwhile, organised a recruitment drive with special emphasis on inducting one lakh Muslim youth.
In Gujarat, a group of Muslims linked to the BJP celebrated the Chief Minister's birthday with a giant 64-kg cake. Similar cake-cutting ceremonies were held in a few other cities.
In Mumbai, the party's minority cell organised a gathering at the historic Makhdoom Shah Baba mausoleum or Mahim Dargah where Muslims prayed "for Mr Modi's long life."
As Mr Modi makes a bid to be Prime Minister next year, he needs to win friends and influence people. In that effort, he is also attempting to turn a debate over his secular credentials on its head.
He is accused by political rivals of being a divisive leader, but his party insists that Mr Modi enjoys support among minorities too.
At a massive rally in Jaipur last week, Muslims were requested by the BJP to attend wearing burqas and skull caps to make their presence obvious.
Then, on Sunday, Mr Modi said at a rally of ex-serviceman in Haryana that politicians should learn a lesson in secularism from the Indian armed forces.
The Gujarat Chief Minister is accused of not doing enough to stop the communal riots that mangled his state in 2002, leaving hundreds of people, mostly Muslims, dead. Those accusations have not been proved in court.
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