Kodnani conviction leaves BJP jittery over Narendra Modi

“This can’t be seen as the final judicial verdict. This is only the first court.” This was the refrain in the BJP circles in Delhi on Wednesday after a Gujarat court found former BJP minister Maya Kodnani guilty in the Naroda Patiya riots case. But the mood was definitely downcast. For a party on a high after putting the government on the defensive over the damning CAG report on coal allocations over the last week, the development was unsettling. Kodnani, a sitting MLA, was convicted for murder and criminal conspiracy, both serious offences. The verdict is likely to let loose another bout of finger-pointing at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the riots. The BJP leaders at all levels in New Delhi, Gujarat and elsewhere in the country are acutely aware that each time a verdict of this nature becomes public, the debate over Modi’s future gets intense. This time the situation is much more serious than earlier court judgments. For the first time, a leader of Maya Kodnani’s stature has been convicted. Those convicted earlier were ordinary people. “Maya Ben Kodnani has been one of our finest and most committed party workers. Naturally we are all very saddened with this verdict. Everyone knows of her good educational background and and popularity but what can be said once the court has convicted her. The conviction will be challenged in higher courts. But yes, it hurts. It hurts badly all in the party,” a senior BJP leader from Ahmedabad told Firstpost on condition of anonymity. [caption id=“attachment_435745” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi. Reuters[/caption] BJP spokesperson in Ahmedabad, Yamal Vyas, and in New Delhi, Prakash Javdekar, mostly confined themselves to their brief, trying to finish the subject in a line or two. “She was an MLA when the incident happened. She was not a minister then, so she can’t be described as a government functionary,” Vyas said. A practicing doctor, she was later inducted in Modi’s cabinet and given the women and children development portfolio. She enjoyed Modi’s trust. The concern among BJP leaders is at two levels: one, as to how it would impact Gujarat which is going to polls at the end of the year; and two, how it would impact Modi’s image outside— whether it will lead his critics within the NDA to harden their position against him. The build-up of Modi as a development messiah and a strong leader who could take hard steps on issues relating to finance and security has been specifically to project him as a prime ministerial option. The irony for the BJP is, a party leader attempted to explain, that even as the prosecution has been done and justice delivered in Gujarat for unfortunate 2002 riots we are still being painted with the same black brush. Politically, this verdict will not harm Modi in Gujarat. It, in fact, may benefit him leading a polarisation of votes in his favour. Last time it was Sonia Gandhi’s one liner “Maut Ka Saudagar” which the changed political discourse and social alignment during electioneering. This time the Congress has so far been going very carefully not touching anything that might touch a communal cord. The party is focussing on schemes like free housing and so on. A senior Congress leader who is part of team working on Gujarat elections, said the party’s strategy has been very clear: Stress on governance issues and come out with schemes even if they are populist but have the potential to make people to vote for the Congress. The party would avoid overindulging in anti-Modi rhetoric. While it is natural for the Congress to take a tough anti-Modi position after the verdict in the Naroda Patiya case, it remains to be seen how far it will go with it. After all, the seats Modi muster in Gujarat will be his ticket for a stint on the national stage.