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Sonia asks Vajpayee to
stop Gaurav Yatra

Shahid K Abbas in New Delhi

The Congress on Wednesday sought Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's intervention to prevent the Gujarat unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party from taking out its proposed Gujarat Gaurav Yatra.

In a letter addressed to Vajpayee, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi reminded the government that Gujarat was yet to recover from the recent communal violence that had left over 900 people dead and thousands of other homeless. She said the yatra could rekindle the communal passions in the state.

"I am sure you will keep in mind the overarching aim of maintaining and consolidating peace and amity among the people of Gujarat while advising the chief minister [Narendra Modi] in this matter of importance and urgency," Sonia wrote in the letter.

Releasing the letter to the press, party spokesmen Anand Sharma said: "The Congress is clear that the yatra is a provocative step that would create a sense of alarm and insecurity among the people in a state where the wounds of the recent violence and communal divide have not yet been healed."

It was Sonia's letter that had led to the prime minister directing his party's Gujarat unit to call off the yatra the last time it was sought to be taken out.

"We have once again begun to see media reports that the Gujarat chief minister has revived his plans for undertaking such a yatra, and that too in those districts of the state that have been most affected in the recent communal violence," the letter says.

"You will agree that the wounds of the recent violence and communal divide have not yet healed in that state. This is amply borne out by the findings of the Election Commission. While normal political activity must go on, such activity should be undertaken strictly in a manner that promotes, and not weakens, communal harmony in the state," it adds.

Recalling the "widespread violence, loss and trauma" that the people of Gujarat have faced, Sonia wrote: "I strongly feel that there should be at least an informal understanding between all political parties not to do anything in the pursuance of their legitimate political objectives that will cause further divide and tension among the citizens."

Gujarat Elections 2002: The complete coverage

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