Buntings for Modi and warpaint for Vaghela at Godhra

AHMEDABAD: Godhra - this very communal town of central Gujarat which became the epicentre of the Gujarat riots in 2002, is `dressing up to kill' this weekend. Chief minister Narendra Modi, who probably owes his political vault to Godhra, has picked this town for the grand Republic Day celebrations on Monday. The reason: His sworn adversary, Shankersinh Vaghela, plans to contest this seat in the Lok Sabha elections.
Modi and Vaghela have scores to settle in Godhra.As organisational secretary of BJP, Modi had sabotaged Vaghela's campaign in Godhra in 1996 when he was a sitting BJP MP. It was this back-stabbing that incited Vaghela to rebel from the BJP a few months later to become chief minister.
Recalling the 1996 defeat, Vaghela told TOI, "It was entirely planned at the state level of BJP and I had warned Advaniji and Vajpayeeji about it, but they had told me - don't worry, contest from Godhra, we are with you.''
The plot has changed since then, though the characters remain the same. Far from the saffron-coloured Modi, who traversed the riot-ravaged streets of Godhra post-2002, sweating and ranting about then Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf, the Modi who will revisit Godhra on January 26, will be a suave CEO of Gujarat.
He will be talking about the successes of `Vibrant Gujarat', the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor in which this region falls, and the crores to be pumped into this backward district.
Since 1996, when Modi got a band of VHP sadhus to campaign against Vaghela and personally distributed sweets when he was defeated, Godhra as a parliamentary constituency is far changed. So has Vaghela's constituency of Kapadvanj, which has been wiped out after delimitation. Some assembly segments of Kapadvanj fall in Godhra, which is why Vaghela has Godhra as his next battlefield. And Modi is planning an ambush again.