Modi can’t wash his hands off Godhra, says Vajpayee’s niece

mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, Nov 6:  Her uncle, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is the BJP’s most iconic leader. Karuna Shukla, who quit the party late last month, however, says she has turned down requests for reconciliation, and that the BJP has erred by selecting Narendra Modi as its choice for prime minister.

 

"Modi can’t wash his hands off Godhra," she told NDTV, referring to the burning alive of nearly 60 Hindu pilgrims on a train that triggered the communal riots of Gujarat in 2002 in which over 1000 people were killed on Mr Modi’s watch as chief minister. Ms Shukla said that when the riots erupted, her uncle was livid with Mr Modi.

As prime minister at the time, Mr Vajpayee had famously written to Mr Modi, reminding him of his duties of "raj dharma" - to deliver good governance and justice without any discrimination on the basis of caste or religion.

"I won’t go back. They used us. I will campaign against them," Ms Shukla told NDTV about the BJP. 

The 63-year-old was a national vice-president of the BJP till she resigned last month after, alleging that she was "mentally tortured" and "continuously neglected" by senior leaders in Chhattisgarh.

She has not been given a ticket for the state elections, which will be held later this month.

In the past, Ms Shukla has represented Chhattisgarh in Parliament.

She told reporters last week that she had spent five days trying to meet in Delhi with BJP president Rajnath Singh.

"I can understand that he can be busy but at least he should have replied to my phone calls," she said.