Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was newsmaker of the year as he flaunted his national ambition with a Sadhbhavna mission after the Supreme Court granted him relief in a 2002 riot case while his stand-off with the governor on Lokayukta appointment, the Ishrat Jahan and Sanjiv Bhatt cases also grabbed headlines.

IPS officer Bhatt's affidavit in the Supreme Court claiming he was present in the much talked about February 27, 2002 meeting of Modi and senior state police officers in which the chief minister allegedly gave instructions to "allow Hindus to vent their anger and teach Muslims a lesson for Godhra train carnage", created a sensation.

The government was also accused of targeting IPS officers who seemed to be "anti-BJP in the big way through out the years". The year saw judgements coming in the major 2002 riots cases like the Godhra train carnage and the Sardarpura massacre after nine year of the incidents taking place.

The Gujarat High Court also ordered CBI probe in the Ishrat encounter case on December 1, after the SIT constituted by it concluded that the shootout was staged by Gujarat Police. The CBI has registered a FIR in the case.

In the later part of the year, both the Congress and the BJP began preparations and even campaigned for the Assembly polls which are scheduled to be held at the end of next year.

The Supreme Court's decision on September 12 to refer back Zakia Jaffery's complaint that Modi and 61 other including top state politicians, police officers and bureaucrats had conspired the 2002 riots to a magistrate court came as a great relief to the chief minister who on that day said "god is great".

Sensing an opportunity to launch himself as a nationally acceptable leader before the 2014 general election, Modi launched Sadbhavna Mission, under which he took up a three-day fast initially in Ahmedabad and then in each district of the state for peace, harmony and unity.

There were lot of expectations from the Sadbhavna fast that Modi might finally -- after almost nine years -- express regret about the 2002 riots. However, he only declared that his policy is "appeasement for none and development for all", without religious or caste bias.

After his fast exhibiting his national ambition, it seemed that all was not well between Modi and his party, as BJP stalwart and his mentor L K Advani started his anti- corruption yatra from Bihar which was flagged off by Nitish Kumar, a staunch opponent of the Gujarat chief minister.

Modi's another opponent Sanjay Joshi was re-inducted into the party which he did not seem to like.

In protest, Modi did not attend the national executive meeting of the BJP held in New Delhi from October 1. However, later he seemed to have patched up with Advani and supported his yatra when it came to Gujarat.

On August 25, Governor Kamla, in an unprecedented move, by-passed the elected government-appointed Justice (retd) R A Mehta as state lokayukta, a post lying vacant for seven years.

The appointment resulted in open confrontation between the chief minister and the governor as Modi not only fought the move politically but also took a legal recourse by challenging the decision in the Gujarat High Court.

Demonstrations and rallies were organised throughout the state demanding immediate recall of the governor. Modi also wrote a letter to the prime minister in this regard.

The high court on October 10 gave a split verdict in the case with one judge upholding the appointment while another saying that it was unconstitutional. Now, the matter will come up for hearing before the third judge for the decision.

The Opposition Congress became aggressive on the issue of corruption in the wake of Anna Hazare agitation and submitted a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil in June alleging that the Modi government has committed 17 scams in the last one year amounting to crore of rupees.

Modi was quick to reply as he appointed a commission on August 17, headed by retired Supreme Court judge M B Shah to inquire in the 15 of the total 17 allegations. The other two charges were not given to the commission as they were sub-judice.

The state Congress witnessed a change of guard when Arjun Modhvadia took over as its president from Siddarth Patel. The party also appointed its sulking leader Shankarsinh Vaghela as chairman of its campaign committee for the 2012 polls. After his appointment, he launched the Congress campaign for the 2012 elections from Kutch on the first Navratra on September 28. The Congress has been organising district-wise rallies since then.

The ruling BJP is also all geared up for the elections as they have been mobilising party cadres and has began the ground work for the polls.

After Bhatt's claim, the apex court refused to take his affidavit on record as the SIT appointed by it said that his testimony was not reliable as others present in that meeting denied Bhatt's presence.

Bhatt was suspended on August 8 on the charges of remaining absent from his duty for more than five months. He was also arrested in a case of threatening and forcing his constable to sing a false affidavit on September 30, but is now out on bail.

Other IPS and IAS officers who had taken stand against the Modi government like Rahul Sharma, Kuldeep Sharma, Pradeep Sharma and Rajnish Rai were also allegedly targeted by the state government in one way or another during the year.

Special courts set up under direct supervision of Supreme Court gave judgements in two major cases of 2002, --the Godhra train carnage and the Sardarpura riot cases -- as the victims got justice after almost nine years of the incidents.

Thirty-one people were convicted by special court on February 22 and 63 were acquitted in the case of burning of S-6 coach of the Sabarmati express train killing 59 people mostly karsevaks returning from Ayodhaya that triggered the worst-ever riots in the state in which more than 1,000 people mostly of minority community were killed.

Later on March 2, the court sentenced 11 to gallows, while 20 others were given life term.

In the Sardarpura riot case, where 33 people were killed in the village of Mehasana district, the court sentenced 31 people to life term.

A major failure of the state health department came to the fore in October, when 23 thalassemic children contracted HIV after being given contaminated blood during transfusion at the Junagadh civil hospital over the last few years. They approached the high court for action against those responsible and for proper compensation.

Five people died in rare Congo or Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fever, first reported from Gujarat, in January.

However, the state health department was able to contain it.