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CEC chides Gujarat authorities for giving improper information on riots aftermath

Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh on Saturday gave a tongue lashing to district authorities in Baroda and chided them for not giving proper information on the situation after the recent riots.

Apparently questioning the conclusion drawn about normalcy having returned to the state, a visibly angry Lyngdoh, heading the three-member Central Election Commission team, asked the district collector "How are you saying that the situation has improved?"

"What kind of stories are you telling us?" he retorted after district officials suggested people were returning back to their homes while briefing the EC team on the situation in the areas worst hit by riots.

"They are all vacant houses. Are you not ashamed of yourselves?" Lyngdoh asked.

The team visited the Kisanwadi, Best Bakery and Rajarani Talao areas of the city, which were badly hit by the recent communal violence in Gujarat.

A Congress delegation also submitted a memorandum to Lyngdoh opposing early assembly elections saying the ground situation was not conducive for free and fair polls. The delegation pointed out that many of the residents who had fled their homes have not yet returned.

Leaders of the minority community placed their grievances before the EC team, which spent a couple of hours in violence-hit localities.

During a visit to the Best Bakery area, where about twelve persons were burnt alive, the team interacted with locals.

At several places, the team was told how rioters wearing masks attacked residents, and looted their houses and shops before setting them on fire.

Hindu residents complained that they were being harassed by the police and that those detained had not been released on bail.

The team also visited some villages in the outskirts of the city.

Earlier on Friday, the team had visited parts of Ahmedabad, which bore the brunt of the communal violence.

The EC's observations do not bode well for Chief Minister Narendra Modi,

Modi's gamble to dissolve the Gujarat assembly and force an early election to take advantage of the polarisation of the electorate along communal lines does not seem to be paying dividends.

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