Contorversy over Narendra Modi’s words and deeds has travelled from Gujarat to neighbouring Maharashtra. A freelance journalist’s views on the Gujarat elections that ticks off Modi and that was released by the Press Information Bureau’s Western Region on December 3 has earned the agency’s director censure from Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj.Anuradha Sheshadri, the PIB’s Western Region Director, incurred Swaraj’s wrath for releasing the article, penned by freelance journalist Digant K Dave. While Swaraj did not directly pull up Sheshadri, Principal Information Officer Sahib Singh on December 8 is said to have expressed ‘‘strong displeasure’’ for clearing the ‘‘anti-Modi’’ article without his approval. Amidst rumours that she is on her way out, Sheshadri declined comment. ‘‘I have no comments to offer. I am not authorised to speak,’’ she told The Indian Express.Principal Information Officer Sahib Singh denied that he had pulled up Sheshadri, and said he would have to read the article first. ‘‘I have not spoken to the officer concerned,’’ Singh claimed. He also declined comment on whether action would be taken against Sheshadri. Her last stint had ended in an abrupt transfer: she was transferred as Joint Director (News) at Doordarshan to the PIB following an oral complaint lodged by a local BJP leader.The article of contention, titled ‘Gujarat State Assembly Elections, Decisive For The State And The Nation’, came in from the PIB’s Ahmedabad office. Running into three pages, it’s a critique of the decision of the ‘‘state government’’ (read Modi) to advance the elections, the communal divide and the various yatras in the state. ‘‘It was unfortunate to note that somehow, inspite of the communal disturbances in which about 1,500 persons were killed, thousands were injured and lakhs of people were rendered homeless, the state government headed by Chief Minister Narendra Modi decided to prepone the assembly elections scheduled to be held in February 23 and dissolved the assembly in July 2002,’’ comments Dave—a former joint director with Doordarshan’s Ahmedabad kendra. ‘‘Overlooking or ignoring the widespread devastation of life and property and the magnitude of the difficult problems of relief and rehabilitation of thousands of affected people in a large number of relief camps, the government wanted the elections to take place latest by the end of Sept 2002, although it could have been postponed till Feb 2003.’’Dave also comments on the impact of the terror among the minority community on the elections. In his words: ‘‘Even months after the widespread disturbances, three to four lakh voters belonging to the minority community who fled to adjoining states have not yet gathered the courage to return to Gujarat. Number of local voters uprooted from their original place of residence is also very high.’’Dave also criticises Modi’s Gujarat Gaurav Yatra and the rallies organised by the Sangh Parivar. ‘‘The tone and tenor of this was not healthy, to say the least,’’ says Dave. ‘‘No less than Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee himself was forced to intervene in this, advising his party leaders to restrain themselves and stay away from criticising constitutional authority like the CEC. In fact, the yatras further aggravated the situation.’’
