Modi cancels UK tour

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi called off his visit to the United Kingdom late tonight citing security reasons. Earlier in the day, a London-based group had urged British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to deny entry to Modi.

"Now that the US has accepted these grounds (his alleged role in the Gujarat riots) as sufficient to revoke visa for Modi, can we expect the British government to use these grounds," Mohamed Munaf Zeena, chairman, Council of Indian Muslims (CIM) asked Straw in an open letter. Modi was supposed to participate in the Vibrant Gujarat celebrations at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday

In Delhi, meanwhile, the issue continued to create stir in both the Congress and BJP camps. The BJP lashed out today at the Congress for saying that Narendra Modi must ponder why things had come to such a pass.

Reacting to yesterday's comments of the Congress spokesperson, former BJP president Venkaiah Naidu said, "We don't need any certificate from the Congress whose hands are blood stained. The party was responsible for numerous riots in various parts of the country including the Sikh genocide in Delhi and those in Bhagalpur and Hyderabad."

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee also rose to Modi's defence today by pointing out that the Congress had no right to play politics on the issue.

In the Congress camp, the demand for a more aggressive line on Modi gathered strength. Wasim Ahmed, a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee, sought a meeting on the issue and said that Modi was not the "pride of India" as has been made out by the BJP, but was a "blot".

Apparently referring to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement, he said a consensus should have been arrived at before the official position had been taken. The Prime Minister's office had yesterday had issued a clarification of Manmohan Singh's position on the issue. The Prime Minister's media advisor had said that the prime minister's statement on the US denial of visa made in Parliament should not be construed as Modi's defence but as criticism of Washington's policies.

Describing the refusal of visa as a "national embarrassment", Congress spokesman Anand Sharma had yesterday said BJP must consider why he had to face this situation.