‘Do-it-yourself’ Modi needs top brass help

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Concerned over the CBI probe, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who prefers handling his own affairs, is now in regular touch with the party’s top brass in New Delhi.

The Gujarat chief minister, it is learnt, has been calling senior party leaders, including Mr L.K. Advani and party chief Nitin Gadkari, “almost every day” to discuss the developments in the Sohrabuddin encounter case.
Mr Modi’s close aide and former state minister Amit Shah is already in the judicial custody and being grilled by the CBI regarding the encounter case. There are also reports that the investigating agency is likely to seek permission to question the Gujarat chief minister in the encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi.
Sources disclosed Mr Modi, who otherwise used to handle any adverse situations on his own, is worried this time.
While noted lawyer and BJP MP Ram Jethmalani is representing Mr Shah, Mr Modi, it is learnt, is also seeking guidance from senior party colleagues, who are into the legal profession. He is also being updated on a daily basis by Mr Shah’s lawyers on the case, sources said.
“This time the case in different. It is not Modi but his close associates around whom the agencies are tightening the noose. Modi had cautiously handled the situation when he was summoned by the Special Investigation Team. But now, if he gets involved directly, all fingers would be pointing at him and he can’t take the risk,” said a senior party functionary.
Sources said Mr Modi’s recent remarks, including the one where he has asked whether Gujarat was considered part of an “enemy” country by the Centre, is a reflection of his being flustered.
The CBI has urged the Supreme court to shift the Sohrabuddin case outside Gujarat for a “fair trial”, saying “the atmosphere is not conducive in the state.” Mr Modi reacted to this by asking the Centre whether it consider Gujarat a “part of an enemy state” and whether “judges of Gujarat are useless.”
“He has never given these kind of statements even when he was summoned by the Special Investigation Team in the Gulberg Society riot case. Such statements by him are only given during public rallies to stir up public sentiments. Modi is using the Gujarat card to garner support for Shah and the case to remain in his state,” said the senior functionary.