NEW DELHI , APR 17 -
Indian opposition leader and general election frontrunner Narendra Modi
accused the media on Wednesday of smearing him over sectarian rioting
in 2002 in which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, died.
Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is on track to
win India's general election and promote Modi from his current post as
chief minister in Gujarat - his home state where the rioting occurred -
to become the next prime minister.
Voting in the world's largest democracy is phased over several weeks,
beginning on April 7 and ending on May 12. Results are due to be
announced on May 16.
"If the media had not made such an effort to malign Modi, Modi would
not be as well known as he is," Modi, 63, said in an interview with the
ANI television service.
Modi's rise has drawn fresh attention to the riots. Rahul Gandhi of the
ruling Congress party has said that, even though a Supreme Court
inquiry found that Modi had no case to answer, it did not absolve him of
responsibility.
Modi has also faced accusations that he has been reticent over the
killings because expressing contrition might alienate the BJP's core
Hindu vote in the five-week election. The biggest round of voting will
be held on Thursday.
Modi said that his attempts to explain the 2002 events to journalists had proved futile.
"There is no top journalist to whom I have not given an interview. I
answered every question from 2002-2007," he said. "Later I saw that this
was not an attempt to learn the truth."
He expressed confidence that the BJP would achieve its best ever result
in the election, while the Congress party faced its worst ever defeat.
"I have said what I had to say," said Modi. "Now I am in the people's court, and I am waiting to hear its judgment."
No comments:
Post a Comment