July 19 : The following are excerpts from the letter written by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to the people: With your blessings we got an opportunity to serve you all. All the members of the Cabinet have the satisfaction of discharging the duties entrusted by you with devotion. In the pretext of (the) Godhra incident and its aftermath, efforts were made to pressurise Gujarat. Power-hungry forces stooped to the lowest possible level and made a united effort to devour the prestige of Gujarat. Those who spoke the truth about Gujarat were portrayed as liars. The forces which made desperate attempts to isolate Gujarat from the rest of the country have not stopped their attacks even now. Those elements which failed in opposing (the) Narmada project, now try to portray Gujaratis as rapists to the rest of the world. Those who nurture such elements, insulted five crore Gujaratis by describing Gujarat as Godse's Gujarat. Not a single hour passes in the Lok Sabha without an attempt being made to malign Gujarat... Look at the poverty of their thought and the peak of their hatred towards Gujarat! Deliberate campaigns to weaken the morale of the democratic institutions were carried out by the forces who wanted to defame Gujarat. The position of a retired judge is a respectable institution, but baseless allegations were made against the inquiry commission and the retired judge appointed for inquiry. Rumours were spread to demoralise the police forces, divide the administration, and create an atmosphere of mistrust. The Gujarati press has an honourable history. The hatred towards Gujarat is revealed by the attempts made to portray even the Gujarati dailies as guilty. Attempts are going on even today to save the Godhra killers, to help them, by spreading all types of imaginary stories to misdirect the inquiry and to break the mental strength of the officers conducting the inquiry, instead of trusting the judiciary. The power-hungry elements touched the heights of imagination when they said that the kar sevaks set fire to themselves, as if the innocent women, children and men worked out a criminal plan to set Gujarat on fire by immolating themselves. The power-hungry leaders have even forgotten the respect one should pay to death in their efforts to save those guilty in the Godhra incident. Godhra carnage has become a disaster for Gujarat. The five crore brothers and sisters of Gujarat longed for support and compassion in those tragic days. They kept waiting for a hand to wipe their tears, to heal their wounds. In those dreadful days, several delegations of all shapes and sizes landed in Gujarat in hundreds - innumerable - uncountable. They had decided not to let the wounds heal. All those who came rubbed salt on the wound to make it fresh, and big. Our pains gave them sadistic pleasure. On the other hand, those who are totally ignorant of the history and geography of Gujarat went on statement-making spree. Under the protection of the power-hungry leaders, the statement makers go about defaming Gujaratis and Gujarat. The forces which you people drove away before 15 years are now hungry for power. In last October, when our ministry was formed, those elements went about spreading rumours of early election to create instability. While the ordinary citizen and Gujarat was saddened by the Godhra incident, these forces were busy for one-and-a-half months demanding the government's resignation by launching protests, calling hundreds from different parts of the country. The people of Gujarat have understood the criminal strategy of those who want to keep the communal fire alive wearing the masks of democracy. During the budget session of the Assembly, most of the time they were out, and were present only to create a hue and cry. They kept away even from the discussions on the budget, which is very important for the development of Gujarat. To wipe out the impression of an irresponsible Opposition party they were reciting election and the government's resignation. They converted Lok Sabha into a battleground for dismissing the elected government in Gujarat and did not allow Lok Sabha to function for days... ...These elements, who to keep Gujarat burning to bake their political bread, joined hands with extremists and took control of the students, and announced the boycott of examinations. Under the pretext of boycotting examinations, even at the cost of the future of one crore students, they wanted bloodshed on the festival of Ramnavami to destabilise the government. Even though Gujarat High Court snubbed the elements who want to stop the conduct of examinations, they have not stopped yet. No efforts are needed to find out the dangerous intentions of the power hungry. They went to the extent of taking disciplinary action and removed from the party the MLA who spoke about peace and communal harmony in the presence of CM during a function organised by the minority community for communal harmony attended by lakhs of people in Wankaner. Those who tried to ruin Gujarat by boycotting the examinations still enjoy high positions in the power-hungry party. The hunger for power does not allow them to rest, even now. What all did they not do to degrade the holy celebrations like rathyatra? How much pressure they applied in Delhi to stop rathyatra? Those who wanted to destabilise the peace by attacking the rathyatra were caught red-handed with deadly weapons. Another Godhra was prevented. The power-hungry elements became so disillusioned that they had no words to say about the great disaster from which Gujarat was saved. There was no word of appreciation. There was no single statement praising Gujarat... People of Gujarat are the protecting gods of Gujarat in human form. It is desirable for all that they decide the future of Gujarat. Healthy political atmosphere is the need of the hour. Rumours and lies are hindering the interests of Gujarat. We do not want to affect the interest of Gujarat by entering into the competition of allegations and counter allegations. In democracy the final decision rests with the people. The best spirit of democracy is to go to the people. So we again seek your blessings in the form of people's mandate. After the elections, we want to march forward with fresh air and new trust... The people of Gujarat are awaiting an opportunity to teach a lesson to those who played with the pride of Gujarat. We must think about the safety of Gujarat and Gujaratis. The development of Gujarat, the progress of Gujarat and the wealth of Gujarat are dear to us. It is the determination of all of us to move in that direction. And so, I submit my resignation of my Cabinet at the feet of the five crore people of Gujarat.