Modi keeps mum on Jaswant Singh's observations on Gujarat riots

New Delhi, July 24 (UNI) Journalists today drew a blank from Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi when they sought his comment on senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh accusing his government of ''mishandling the Gujarat riots leading to loss of state control.'' In a candid admission of failure of the state administration, the former External Affairs Minister, in his just published book 'A Call to Honour: In Service of Emergent India'', wrote that the 2002 riots were one of the two ''major negatives'' in the history of the BJP.

According to Mr Singh, the failure of control over the Ram temple movement was the other blemish on the party since it formally came into existence in 1980.

Mr Modi, accompanied by his senior officials, was in the capital to discuss the XIth Plan Approach Paper with Planning Commission officials at Yojana Bhavan.

Emerging from the over two-hour-long meeting, Mr Modi was effusive in giving details of the deliberations to mediapersons, who had assembled in strength at the Yojana Bhavan.

But when he was asked to comment on Mr Jaswant Singh's observations, he just kept mum.

''I told you they (journalists) would definitely ask this question,'' Mr Modi told Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who was standing close to him.

Mr Singh, in his book, wrote: ''On the BJP's scorecard, there are two major negatives. First, the getting out of hand of the Ayodhya Ram temple issue, the consequent vandalism at the site, the pulling down of it in December 1992.

''The other is the loss of state control, in 2002, in Gujarat, after a train-load of pilgrims returning from Ayodhya were trapped and their bogie set on fire in Godhra.'' The Gujarat riots compromised an impeccable record of a riot-free India over six years, held the veteran BJP leader.

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