Narendra Modi has written to Chief Ministers urging them to reject the anti-communal violence Bill
Narendra Modi has written to Chief Ministers urging them to oppose the Centre's Bill to check communal violence, on a day the Prime Minister rebutted his criticism and asserted that the proposed law was not a "vote-catching gimmick."
Here are the latest updates on this story:
Mr Modi, who is running for Prime Minister, wrote to chief ministers that the Bill was a blatant attempt to intrude into the powers of state governments. "It is important for all chief ministers to rise beyond political affiliations and come together to oppose the Bill," he said.
The Gujarat Chief Minister has written to several chief ministers including Maharashtra's Prithviraj Chavan and Ibobi Singh of Manipur, who belong to the Congress.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh defended the Bill, saying it would "help control aberrations created by communal strife."
Referring to the September communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, the PM said it was a "reminder that although we can take pride in our ability to protect all the people of our country, yet there are times when aberrations take place."
Dr Singh was reacting to the Gujarat Chief Minister's letter to him, which described the Bill as a "recipe for disaster" and questioned its "suspicious timing and content."
Mr Modi's BJP alleges that the Bill is being rushed by a government motivated by vote-bank politics ahead of the national election due by May.
Many regional parties say even the new version of the Bill impedes the right of state governments to maintain law and order.
Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is tipped for re-election in the Madhya Pradesh polls held recently, today wrote to the Prime Minister alleging that the Bill was trying to "usurp the legislative powers of state governments as guaranteed by the Constitution."
A revised version of the Bill, circulated among parties, no longer assumes that only a member of a minority group can be the victim of communal violence, a provision that the BJP had opposed strongly, saying it was biased against one community.
The government plans to introduce the Bill in this session of parliament, which ends on December 20 and is seen as the last window to push through important legislations before the general election.
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