The BJP and the Congress traded charges after BJP parliamentary party chairman L.K. Advani on Sunday came out in defence of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. After media reports on Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team (SIT) not been able to find substantial evidence against Mr Modi in one of the post-Godhra riot cases, Mr Advani, writing on the issue in his blog, claimed the reports were “the most heartening news I have read in a long, long time in the front page report”. He said in his 60 years of political life he has “not known any of his colleagues so consistently, so viciously maligned by opponents as Narendra Modi”.
The Congress however, criticised Mr Advani for praising Mr Modi and said it was a case of “self-infatuation”. “This (the Gujarat riots) is one of the cases being investigated by the SIT and that the report has been given (to the Supreme Court) in a sealed cover. Modi, BJP or even Advani cannot escape responsibility for whatever has happened in Gujarat,” Congress spokesperson Mohan Prakash said.