BJP parliamentary party chairman L.K. Advani’s meeting with Amit Shah in Sabarmati prison on Saturday is being viewed in the party circle as a message to detractors of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi that both Gujarat and its chief minister are still considered important by the central leadership. Amit Shah, a former Gujarat minister and an accused in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, is considered as a close confidant of Mr Modi.
The BJP had attacked the Centre for “misusing CBI” for political gain when Amit Shah was arrested.
The party had claimed that it would raise the “misuse of CBI” issue during the recently concluded Monsoon Session of Parliament.
But the party could not raise this issue which gave rise to speculations that BJP had decided to give the issue amiss.
This gave enough ammunition to Mr Modi’s detractors in the party to claim that the Gujarat chief minister was losing his grip over the party.
“But by visiting Amit Shah, a message has been given that Gujarat and its chief minister Narendra Modi are still important for the central leadership,” said a senior party functionary.
Meanwhile, Mr Advani, who was in Ahmedabad on Saturday, had also said that he would speak on the Ayodhya issue in Somnath on September 25, a day after Allahabad high court will pronounce verdict on the Ayodhya title suit case.
Mr Advani visits Somnath temple every year on September 25, the day he launched his historic rath yatra in 1990 from the place, which eventually led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.