STATEMENT ISSUED BY SHRI L.K. ADVANI, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

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It has been reported in a section of the Press that in my Rajya Sabha speech yesterday, I described Shri Narendra Modi as the "Best Chief Minister in 50 years". The Report is not correct. The exact words I uttered in my Speech were:

"Sir in the last 50 years, there have been numerous riots at numerous places, but I am not aware of any other Chief Minster having dealt with them so sternly". When I made this assertion I had in mind these telling statistics of Government action taken, namely:

Persons killed in police firing	:	200
Number of Persons arrested under Preventive Provision	:	42508
Number of Persons arrested on criminal charges	:	20436