BJP hails verdict, Congress says there is still hope

The BJP rushed to welcome the trial court verdict on the Godhra train burning incident of February, 2002, saying it had vindicated its stand that the fire was the result of a conspiracy.

"Through the UC Bannerjee Commission, the government tried to spread the lie that Ram Sevaks set fire to the train from inside, as if the Ram Sevaks had immolated themselves. Nothing could be more outlandish than this," said Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.

"The fire from inside theory has been defeated and the conspiracy theory upheld. Our stand has been vindicated."

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the verdict had nailed the attempts of motivated NGOs to plant canards that there was no conspiracy.

While remaining non-committal on the judgment itself, the Congress reminded the BJP that Narendra Modi's "role" in the riots that followed the Godhra incident could not be forgotten.

"We are not aware of the content of the judgment...First we have to study the judgment," said Congress leader Jayanthi Natarajan.

"In a political sense, whatever the judgment with regard to Godhra incident, the communal violence that erupted in Gujarat (post the train carnage) remained a blot on democracy...It is a blot on the record of Narendra Modi for which he will always have to answer the people of the nation. We have to remind ourselves that whatever the judgment says, this is the first court ... I am sure that the litigants affected will have other recourse."

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury refused to react to the judgment.