Pune: Shiv Sena today hailed Gujarat chief
minister Narendra Modi for protecting himself from 'topi-kand'
(cap-scam) by refusing to don an 'Imami cap' offered by a
Muslim clergy during his three-day 'Sadbhavana Mission' fast.
"One Imam came on the podium and offered Modi a (skull)
cap, but Modi refused to wear it. He deserves kudos for
preventing this 'topi-kand' in front of cameras," the party
mouthpiece 'Saamna' said in an editorial, which derided
Congress leaders for adopting a policy of appeasement of
minority community.
It said, there was no need to prove secular credentials
by going overboard to appease Muslims in the country and
criticised Congress leaders for donning skull caps during
Iftar parties.
"If Modi sticks to this line, his Delhi bound horse can
race along the Rajpath in Delhi," the paper commented.
However, even though the party is praising the Gujarat
chief minister for the cap episode, just two days ago, it had
criticised him for trying to project a secular image of
himself. The party had said that the Modi shot to power by the
Hindu vote bank and he should not give them "poison of
secularism" in his battle for "gaddi" in Delhi.
The Shiv Sena patriarch, BJP's oldest ally, had also
asked Modi not to forget that after Maharashtra, Gujarat was
the laboratory of Hinduism and had said whatever he was today,
it was because of Hindu vote bank.
Modi was on a three-day fast in Gujarat capital for
"peace, unity and communal harmony". The fast ended on Monday.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 12:08