Strong views on President's Gujarat tour

Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam's visit to the riot-affected western state of Gujarat has provoked strong editorial comments in the country's leading newspapers.

The president was on his first official trip since assuming office last month.

His two-day visit came just days after India's election chief strongly criticised local officials for playing down the scale of violence, which started after an attack on a train carrying Hindu activists in February this year.

Many newspapers said the visit of the president has come as an embarrassment to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which insists that life in the state has returned to normal.

The Indian Express newspaper headline reads: "Gentle rocket from Missile Man".

In its front page story, the paper highlighted the president's statement in which he said the country needed a movement to eliminate communal strife. The comment came after President Kalam met victims of the communal riots.

Politically sensitive

The Indian Express said it was a statement "that was a gentle put-down of the BJP governments at the centre and the state."

The Hindustan Times newspaper called the visit "politically sensitive".

The paper said Mr Kalam's visit "would be more significant for what he was not allowed to see by the state administration."

His visit did not include the camp where ten thousand survivors of the riots, which took place six months ago, are still living.

Some newspapers also referred to the president's visit as a stage-managed affair by the chief minister, Narendra Modi, who the paper said, did not allow the president to be out of his sight even for a minute.

But despite Mr Modi's presence, the president gave orders to the state administration to take immediate steps for relief measures.

No political gain

According to The Hindustan Times the chief minister pulled off a political stunt by visiting Naroda Patia - a site of the communal massacre - with the president.

The paper said it was the first time in six months that any big politician had visited the area.

But the Times of India pointed to the strongest of representations made to the president, against the chief minister, in Kalupur.

"Here the media were kept out, ...Mr Modi may have succeeded in brushing the dust under the carpet", said the paper.

Some opposition political parties thought the visit had been a significant one.

A senior leader of the Communist Party of India, Atul Kumar, told the BBC it was important considering the situation in the state.

But he said no political party should expect to gain anything from the president's visit .

Nealy a thousand people died in communal riots in the state earlier this year.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party wants to hold snap polls - but opposition parties have said the situation is not suitable for elections and Muslims still feel insecure.