AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday shared the dais with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the inauguration of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Museum in Ahmedabad.

Speaking at the event, the BJP prime ministerial candidate welcomed the Prime Minister, the man he hopes to replace after the 2014 general elections, to Gujarat and thanked the Central government for the various awards that have been conferred upon the state government for good governance.

Speaking about Sardar Patel, the first home minister of the state, Modi said the freedom fighter’s memory would inspire the country to grow.

Modi went on to praise Sardar Patel as an able administrator, saying he had devoted his entire life to the welfare of the nation. Modi further said that Patel had a major contribution toward the united India of today.

In a comment that might be considered as politically significant, Modi today said Sardar Patel should have been the first PM of the country. He said if that had happened, the very fate of the country today would have been different.

Meanwhile, Singh said Mahatma Gandhi was a source of eternal inspiration and his life and work will continue to inspire the world for generations to come.

Singh retorted by quoting the Cabinet resolution on Sardar Patel: “A great Indian and an unmatched warrior in the course of freedom... a lover of India.”

PM quoted Patel on Nehru, “We have always respected each others advice and only people who have faith in each other can do this.”

The prime minister even took a dig at Modi. “Patel was secular, proud to belong to his Congress party. We are here to honor a proud son of India and Gujarat. He was among India’s biggest leaders. I am proud to belong to the Congress,” he said.

IM behind blasts

Indian Mujahideen, a militant group is believed to be behind an attack on a rally by Indian Hindu nationalist politician Narendra Modi that killed six people and wounded more than 80, police said on Tuesday.

Modi is seen as a target of militants who hold him responsible for riots a decade ago during his first term as chief minister of Gujarat state. At least 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in the rioting.

Seven crude bombs went off on Sunday in Bihar state as Modi’s supporters gathered for his rally. He was not near any of the blasts and delivered his speech despite the attack.

Senior police official S.N. Pradhan said one of two suspects arrested after the blasts had identified a suspected senior member of the militant group, Tehseen Akhtar, as the organizer of the attack.

The National Investigation Agency, India’s top counter terrorism body, is seeking the arrest of the 24-year-old Akhtar in connection with attacks in recent years in the cities of Mumbai and Varanasi and is investigating his role in blasts in Hyderabad city in February.

“Because of the Tehseen connection, the entire chain is established,” said Pradhan, a senior police official in Jharkhand state, where the detained suspect is from.

“There is no doubt that it is the work of the Indian Mujahideen.” Police said the bombers were trying to spark a stampede in the crowd. Heavy loss of life could have inflamed tension, recently simmering again, between majority Hindus and minority Muslims.

The Indian Mujahideen has been accused of dozens of similar bomb attacks over recent years.

The ease with which the bombs were planted around the rally ground, where tens of thousands of people gathered to hear Modi, has raised concern about Modi’s safety.

Leaders of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have called the attack a big security failure and have demanded better protection for him.

There has been no claim of responsibility.

Opinion polls suggest the BJP, which is seeking to unseat a ruling coalition led by the Congress party, could win the most seats in a general election due by May.

A National Intelligence Agency official told Reuters an analysis of the bombs used in the Sunday attack showed they were similar to devices used in Bodh Gaya. In both attacks, ammonium nitrate was detected, and the timers and circuits were similar, the official said.