Who is Narendra Modi

Shahid Siddiqui accuses SP of shooting the messenger

A day after the Samajwadi Party disowned him for his interview of Narendra Modi, an agitated Shahid Siddiqui on Sunday accused the party of shooting the messenger.

Defending his interview, Siddiqui said he had asked Modi tough questions on his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots which no one had done till now.

"I asked questions which nobody asks to Modi. People are scared even to see him in his eyes but I asked him tough questions. So there is no question of my favouring anybody," he said.

In the interview, Modi had refused to apologise for the 2002 post-Godhra riots and instead said he would prefer to be hanged if found guilty.

"They have shot the messenger. They are suffering from guilt as they have inducted people like Kalyan Singh and Sakshi Maharaj, who were responsible for demolishing the Babri Mosque, in the party and still there are such elements there," he told PTI.

Dubbing as a "white lie" SP claim that he was not its member, Siddiqui, a former Rajya Sabha SP MP, said he was reinducted by Mulayam Singh Yadav in the party fold in January this year as its spokesperson.

"They are telling white lies about my not being a party member. This year on January 6, Mulayam Singh had introduced me to the media as party spokesperson. Now, they are saying such things about me."

The SP had distanced itself from Siddiqui after the publication of his interview with the Gujarat Chief Minister for Urdu weekly 'Nai Duniya'. Siddiqui is the editor of the weekly.

SP leader Ramgopal Yadav had said, "Siddiqui is not a SP member and has nothing to do with the party" and asked the media not to project him as SP leader.

Asked about his future course of action, Siddiqui said political outfits were "family affairs and have no respect for freedom of speech and that is why I will stay away from party politics and continue to write and speak for a secular India."

Siddiqui alleged that ever since the SP had come to power in Uttar Pradesh, it had done nothing for Muslims "and by portraying me as pro-Modi, they are trying to win back the support of the community" to strengthen its vote bank.

Congress MP Darda calls Modi 'tiger' of Gujarat

Congress MP from Maharashtra Vijay Darda on Sunday praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's style of functioning and called him a "tiger".

"Modi's commitment and dedication towards work bears resemblance to that of a tiger," Darda, who shared dais with Modi at an award ceremony, said.

The Congress MP, who is also the editor-in-chief of a media house, was given the 'Tarun Kranti Award' at the event for his services rendered to the society through the media.

The other two recipients of the award for social service were yoga guru Baba Ramdev and Jain International Trade Organisation.

Speaking on the occasion, Modi said Darda may have to pay a price for his comments made in Gujarat.

"It won't be surprising to read tomorrow's breaking news that Darda has been served a show-cause notice from the party high command for praising Modi," he said, taking a dig at the Congress leadership.

Darda later clarified that he did not mean anything political through his comments on Modi. "I was just expressing my heart-felt feelings at a religious function," he said.

"In our culture, we always speak good about the host and this is a religious function, so none of my comments should be misconstrued as political remarks," Darda said.

Given above are two diverse opinions of Narendra Modi.

Sidiqui has already paid the penalty and let us see tomorrow what penalty Darda pays. Probably he too will be suspended.

It is ironic, the SP would prefer to have dacoits and people with criminal records in its fold rather than intellectuals who can give a different opinion.

What is it about Narendra Modi that if anyone expresses a positive opinion about him, the so called secular intellectuals pull them up so that they are made to withdraw their statement. Even Anna had to make a quick withdrawal after praising Anna.

Probably because he too did not want to lose the Muslim support.

In the meantime we see Gujarat growing from strength to strength.

On the other hand we see the Muslim population in The north east states and Bengal growing from strength to strength.

They now form 25% of the population.

The result we are seeing in Assam where we are seeing communal riots after a long time because of Assam's policy of welcoming all Muslims from Bangladesh, unhindered.