Talking to reporters here, she said, "I am surprised as to how Modi, being in politics, being a human being, and being from Gujarat, can speak about the riots and that phase of violence without showing any pain."
She, however, added that she was not passing a judgement on Modi as she did not know him well.
Gandhi-Bhattacharya, 78, is vice-chairman of the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti.
"Once I watched Modi speaking in Gujarat from a distance.I can't judge him. But when he mentions the excesses of the Gujarat riots, I do not see any anguish on his face," she said.
Talking about the conditions at refugees' camps in Gujarat which were set up after the riots, she said, "I was so pained (upon seeing them) that I could not sleep for the next six months."
About Modi's infamous "puppy coming under the wheels of a car" remark, she said it was a case of use of "indecent language".
