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Keshubhai denies he is under pressure to quit

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel on Thursday denied that there was a move by the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership to sack him following the alleged failure of his government in providing quick relief and rehabilitation measures to the earthquake victims.

Addressing a crowded press conference, Patel said, "No, I am not being changed. The ground reality is totally different from what has been mistakenly perceived by some people."

He then passed the mike to BJP Vice President Jana Krishnamoorthy who also said there was no move to replace Keshubahi Patel as chief minister.

There has been speculation in political circles, especially in Gujarat, that Patel will be replaced by a new chief minister following the tardy pace of rehabilitation programmes.

Patel had come to meet Prime Minister A B Vajpayee on Thursday morning, and it was widely believed that he would be asked to step down.

However, what transpired was that Patel asked the Centre for a Rs 45 billion package for rehabilitating Gujarat.

Also present at the meeting were Home Minister L K Advani, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan.

"Although 7,900 villages in the state had been badly affected by the quake, my government started providing relief measures from day one itself, that is January 26," Patel told the media.

He also pointed out that his government would not spare builders whose newly constructed building were destroyed in the quake.

"So far 59 FIRs have been registered against builders and six of them have been arrested," said Patel. However, he said, "In a democracy you cannot victimise innocent people and the inquiry against the guilty would proceed in a systematic way."

Asked about the nexus between his government and builders, he said, "If the state government had any nexus with the builders, we would have not initiated any action against them."

The Complete Coverage | List of earthquake sites

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