Vajpayee wanted to sack Modi, Advani stalled it: Sinha

Former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Friday claimed that after the Godhra riots in 2002, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee wanted to dismiss Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat at the time, but withheld the decision as Home Minister L K Advani had threatened to resign from the Cabinet on the issue.

Speaking at a meet-the-press programme here, the former Union finance minister also dismissed the controversy over the alleged misuse of INS Viraat by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as a non-issue.

"While going to the national executive committee meeting in Goa in 2002, Atal ji had made up his mind that the Gujarat government would be dismissed if Modi ji refused to resign," Sinha claimed.

"There was a meeting within the party. According to my information, Advani ji had opposed this (dismissing the Modi government) and he told Atal ji that if Modi ji is dismissed then he (Advani) would resign from the government. So, he (Vajpayee) withheld the decision and Modi ji continued," Sinha said.

Sinha, a member of the Vajpayee cabinet, also hit out at Modi for raising the issue of Pakistan in the general elections.

"It is unfortunate that the issue of Pakistan is being raised in the elections. He hyphenated our country with Pakistan," he said.

"Are we a country of Pakistan's category? There is no talk about China, which must be feeling happy with the Pakistan rhetoric," claimed the former foreign minister.

"This is being done because China's mention doesn't generate a reaction like that of Pakistan does," he added.

Accusing the Modi government of playing "mischief" with statistics, Sinha said GDP data during the previous UPA government was higher than during the current NDA government.