Narendra Modi’s fast expenses in governor lens

In the governor-government battle, Dr Kamala on Monday illustrated that two can play this game. A day after Narendra Modi let out a political war cry for the recall of Gujarat governor Dr Kamala for unconstitutional appointment of Lok Ayukta, the constitutional head of the state has demanded that the government provide details of the expenses incurred in the three-day state sponsored Sadbhavana fast at the GU convention Hall last weekend.

The governor last Thursday wrote a letter through her principal secretary Arvind Joshi to the additional chief secretary (ACS), General Administration Department on the basis of a representation by the Mahagujarat Janata Party leader Gordhan Zadaphiya.

The governor’s letter asks the GAD to respond to the questions posed by the MJP, which include the total expenditure incurred for the whole programme; whether it was Modi’s personal programme or the government’s or the BJP’s; and if it was a state programme, why were other elected members of the Vidhan Sabha and the head of the state not invited? Without a specific deadline, the letter asks GAD to furnish these details to the governor at the earliest.

In the letter, the ACS has also been asked to give details of the process followed while sanctioning the expenditure. Zadaphiya, a strong saffronist and former minister of state, home in the Modi government who parted ways with the BJP in 2007. He is currently on a 51-hour Samvedana fast in Gandhinagar. “Funds have been grossly misappropriated by the government to fund Modi’s fast. If it was a government programme, then all elected leaders who are a part of the government should have been a part of it,” Zadaphiya told DNA.