'No leader likes to be challenged or debated upon by someone in the party': Aamir Raza

A day after resigning from the Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Aamir Raza Husain on Wednesday said all political parties are the same and admitted that no leader likes to be challenged or debated upon by someone within the party.

Husain, a well-known theatre personality, tendered his resignation on Tuesday, a day after he had commented adversely about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on national television.

"All political parties are same. No leader likes to be challenged or debated upon by someone in the party. You can't do anything to a very senior leader. There is no democratic environment in any party," Hussain said.

When asked if he was forced to resign, Hussain said: "There was no pressure for me to resign. If I can say anything about Narendra Modi on a news channel, then why will I hesitate to tell you if I was pressurized?"

"I belong to a liberal universe. I am a politician by instinct, not by not by profession. By profession, I am a theater director. This is for me a hobby, it hasn't cost me much to resign. What cost much is Modi remarks, that was an incredible test. He should not have made them. A man who consistently makes such remarks should not be considered by any national party as their prime ministerial candidate, especially when a national party (like the BJP) has people like Sushma Swaraj and L.K Advani.

The Padma Shri awardee, who was appointed to the post just two months ago, had told a news channel on Monday that "Modi's statements (on puppy and burqa) were despicable, divisive and can never draw support from Muslims."

Modi had earlier come under sharp criticism from the ruling Congress over his interview to Reuters news agency in which he said that he had done 'absolutely right thing' in 2002 when the state was hit by riots and that an SIT set up by the Supreme Court had given him a 'thoroughly clean chit'.

What caused the controversy was his following remark: "Another thing... someone else is driving a car and we're sitting behind, even then if a puppy comes under the wheel, will be painful or not? Of course, it is. If I'm a chief minister or not, I"m a human being. If something bad happens anywhere, it is natural to be sad," he said, while defending himself.