| Patil wrote a letter to this effect to the department of personnel and training, asking it to conduct a preliminary enquiry. |
| According to home ministry sources, this is a political signal to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat, which have been increasingly mounting personal attacks on United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ministers, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. |
| According to sources, a CBI probe can be held only on matters that have been referred to by a court, or if a matter falls under the Centre's jurisdiction or if a state itself pronounces the matter too complicated for it to handle. |
| "Since this case falls in neither of the three categories and yet, the Modi government's impartiality is clearly in question in the matter, the home ministry will seek to manipulate the grey area in between," said an official. |
| In fact, the home minister's letter is in response to a meeting held in the ministry on April 25, where this matter was discussed in detail, especially in the light of a letter written by Union Textiles Minister Shankersinh Vaghela. |
| "The National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) biggest sore spot is the Gujarat riots and how the administrative machinery was subverted during the riots. With the revelations in the diary damning the Gujarat chief minister, it is an ideal situation for the Centre," said an official. |
| According to a senior Congress leader, the enquiry will also weaken the moral high ground that the NDA seems to have regained after the entire Jharkhand episode. |
| "It is no secret that Gujarat led to the NDA's defeat, and this issue has the potential of favouring the UPA again," said a senior leader. |
| With the NDA determined to give the government a hard time in Parliament, Congress leaders may need this ammunition to combat the Opposition. |
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