Modi trying to influence judiciary, says Congress leader Modhwadia

Ahmedabad, July 26 (ANI): Commenting on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's statement that he should be hanged if he is found guilty of complicity in communal riots in his state, Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia on Thursday said the former is trying to influence the judiciary.

"He (Modi) is trying to influence the judiciary. Whatever he wants to say, he should say in court. Saying like this, in the media, means nothing," he said.

"Instead of giving interviews and challenging the country. He should give these statements to the judiciary and the court in which cases are running against him," he added.

"Even today, in many cases, his name has come up. Even his own party, the BJP, believes that he has made a mistake. So, such type of the utterances is not acceptable," Modhwadia said.

In an interview to an Urdu Weekly, Modi said he was ready to be hanged if found guilty of complicity in the communal riots that took place in his state in 2002.

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shahid Siddiqui, who runs a six page weekly, conducted the cover-page interview.

The interview is believed to be significant as Modi chose to talk about post-Godhra violence to an Urdu weekly.

Earlier, Modi used to walk out of television talk shows when prodded to give his views on the riots.

In the cover page story, Siddiqui writes that the decision to interview Modi came after a lunch meeting in Mumbai with two Bollywood celebrities' filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and celebrated script writer Salim Khan.

Siddiqui said he was not satisfied with Modi's reply. He said that Modi tried to remove the bloody stain of the Godhra riots by giving the interview. (ANI)