Modi may be asked to go

BJP national executive to discuss Gujarat CM's removal: Vajpayee

A day after having said Gujarat was one of the reasons for the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee yesterday said removal of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would be discussed at the party's national executive meeting in Mumbai.

Following up on his yesterday's statement that Gujarat violence could be one of the reasons for BJP's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, he also confirmed what had been widely speculated earlier: that he personally had favoured removal of Modi but was prevailed upon by hawks in the Sangh Parivar.

Acharya Giriraj Kishore of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad reacting to Vajpayee's observation said the party lost the polls not because of Modi but because it did not heed the Hindus' demands.

But Vajpayee was clear and categorical about the new line in Gujarat. "We are thinking afresh of the situation in Gujarat. The matter will be considered afresh at the Mumbai meeting (on June 23-24) of the national executive. All kinds of decisions can be taken," Vajpayee said when asked whether there would be a rethink in the party on the issue of removal of Modi because of the renewed demand for it.

Asked if such decisions could include change of leadership in Gujarat, he responded in affirmative saying "we have to see what will be the losses and gains in that. We will have to have new policies."

On the discussion in the party about Modi's removal in the aftermath of post-Godhra violence, he said "there were two opinions on the question of Modi's removal after the riots."

"Some people wanted his removal. I was of the same opinion. But the entire responsibility was put on me and I had to take a decision keeping in mind all shades of opinion. I felt that holding polls would be more beneficial."

Asked whether the decision not to remove Modi was wrong and if the party had not suffered because of it, Vajpayee said: "On this also there were different opinions. But we did not realise that this strategy will be exploited so much outside Gujarat."

A rebellion against Modi's style of leadership had broken out in the Gujarat BJP less than two weeks ago, with main rival Keshubhai Patel camping in Delhi to press for Modi's removal.

With the Assembly still in session till June 16, Vajpayee's statement is bound to be deeply embarrassing for Modi, who could offer to quit himself, instead of waiting for the humiliation of being asked to step down.

Vajpayee's statement made it clear that he was not criticising Modi for having taken up the cause of the Hindus after the Godhra train massacre but that he failed to get the state machinery to act in time to prevent riots, which gave the Opposition a handle to criticise the government with.

A conclusion that Vajpayee was paving the way for a new "secular" BJP by acting against Modi would therefore be erroneous.

"It is difficult to say what are all the reasons for the defeat (of BJP) in the elections. But one impact of the violence was we lost the elections," he told reporters in Prini yesterday.

Interestingly, while the campaign was on and then Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani had toured Gujarat, he had compared Modi with Vajpayee, calling both good rulers.

"We have good governance here in Gujarat under Modi's leadership and good governance at the Centre under Vajpayee's leadership," Advani had said in a speech in Surendranagar.