Attacks on migrants in Guj: Situation under control, says

Days after the attacks on Hindi-speaking migrants,Gujarat minister Saurabh Patel Tuesday said the situation in his home state was under control.

He claimed only a very small percentage of people had fled Gujarat and said he was optimistic that they will return once the nine-day Navaratri festivities were over.

"Yes, positively they will come back. In fact, yesterday chief minister (Vijay Rupani) was in Uttar Pradesh and he has invited them (migrant workers) back. It is (a) very small issue.

Now everything is completely under control and anyone who has gone back will positively come back after the holidays are over," Patel told reporters.

The minister said he did not want to disclose the names of those behind the attacks but saw a link between the violent incidents in his state and Lok Sabha polls next year.

Migrants, especially those hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, were targeted in several parts of Gujarat following the arrest of a Bihar native for allegedly raping a 14-month-old girl earlier this month.

The minister said his home state owes it to people from outside for its development.

"Today we very proudly say whatever progress Gujarat has achieved in 40-50 years is not only because of people residing in Gujarat but also because people staying in different parts of Gujarat are from different parts of the country.

So, we give equal credit to whoever contributed for the development of Gujarat," Patel told reporters.

He was here to invite the Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala and chief minister H D Kumaraswamy for the inauguration of the 182 metre tall statue of India's first Home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31, the leader's birth anniversary.

Speaking about the 'Statue of Unity', Patel said there would be a nominal entry fee, which has not been decided yet.

The government intends to develop the site into a mega tourist hub where there will be "luxury, semi-luxury and standard tents" around the statue overseeing the Sardar Sarovar Dam, a dream project of Sardar Patel, he said.