Narendra Modi should have been sacked: Bhandari

CM took godhra riots lightly which left a deep scar, says former Gujarat governor.

Baharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran Sunder Singh Bhandari, who was the governor of Gujarat during the Godhra riots, dropped a bombshell today by comparing the riots with the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and accusing Chief Minister Narendra Modi of taking the violence "lightly".

In remarks critical of both Modi and the then BJP-led central government, he said removal of the chief minister was one of the ways, which could have prevented the situation from deteriorating. The situation would have not worsened if the central leadership had reacted immediately, he told Outlook Saptahik, a Hindi magazine, in an interview.

"The riots were taken lightly and this left deep wounds, which need to be healed. People would continue to remember Godhra in the same ways they recall the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, which took place 50 years ago," he is quoted as saying.

The riots continued for two days because of to late action. If action would have been taken on the first day, it would have been better, Bhandari said.

He said: "I had only one complaint and that was the government failed to take action on time. Had it had taken timely action, many things would not have happened". Bhandari said the four to six hour delay in action was a major factor and this had brought a "blot" on the organisation.

Removal of Modi was one of the ways, which could have set the house in order, but other options could also have been tapped, he said.

Bhandari said he was told by the chief minister in the morning that action had begun but his emphasis was that this should have started last night, which did not happen. "The riots were taken lightly and this left a deep scar, which needs to be tended to," he said.

Asked whether there was any way to refurbish the party, Bhandari said, "the party should get rid of people with an image of yesmen who do not think of party's prosperity and have developed vested interests.

Bhandari said, "There is nothing to worry, if some people in the party are agitated over the action. We have an executive committee of hundred members. They yawn, sleep, eat and go away. Now the executive meeting is treated as an outing."

When his attention was drawn to Rashtriya Swaymsevak Sangh (RSS) chief K Sudarshan's attack on the functioning of Brajesh Mishra (principal secretary to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee), Bhandari said he (Sudarshan) hit at a wrong place and he need not have gone into so much details. "What has come out of it? This has only weakened Sudarshan in public," he said.

"Why talk of Pramod Mahajan? We had also collected crores of rupees for elections but he maintained account of every paisa. These days nobody knows how much fund was collected and how much spent," he said in reply to a question.

Asked who were the second-rung leaders capable of running the party in the light of the suggestion made by Sudarshan that both Vajpayee and LK Advani should sideline themselves and make way for them, Bhandari said he did not know them as they had emerged during the past five or six years during which he did not hold any party post.

"I do not know under what compulsions and on what basis these people (second rung leaders) have been projected. This is an issue, which needs to be discussed collectively and till then I would not like to comment," he said.

In a dig at Advani for assuming the party leadership after M Venkaiah Naidu, Bhandari said that only showed that the organisation had run out of candidates who were capable of heading it.

"Many years ago, Advani was party chief and after him, we saw three-four presidents. Some for a year and some for six months. Now Advani has again become president," he said and when asked whether the party had no capable leader other than Advani to head the organisation.

"I have been saying this. This is Advani to Advani race. If a change was to be brought about ( in place of Naidu), a new face could have been given a chance. This only shows our stock (of leadership) is over," he said.