New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today (June 15, 2004) sought to put a lid on the controversy triggered by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's remarks on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's removal saying it was a "closed chapter" and asserted that Vajpayee remained the party's "tallest leader".

"After the statement given by party president M Venkaiah Naidu yesterday following consultations with Vajpayee, it (episode) is a closed chapter. We have nothing more to add," party vice-president and spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters.

He said Naidu had given the statement after "taking Vajpayee into confidence".

Commenting on media reports that the former Prime Minister has been "isolated", he said, "This and other terms may be good for the media but it is not in the party vocabulary. He (Vajpayee) remains our tallest leader."

After talking to Vajpayee over telephone, Naidu had yesterday ruled out Modi's removal and made it clear that even the issue will not come up for discussion at the party's National Executive meeting in Mumbai on June 23 and 24.