Friday, May 13 2005 14:01 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: Taking cue from veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Governor of Gujarat Sundar Singh Bhandari accusing Chief Minister Narendra Modi of taking riots in the State ''lightly'', the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) today (May 13, 2005) demanded the centre to dismiss Modi Government without wasting any time.

''Bhandari, who was Governor of Gujarat during the riots period, pointing fingers at Modi is enough to prove that the BJP Government in Gujarat has lost its constitutional relevance to continue in power. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should apply article 356 to dismiss Modi Government without wasting any time,'' RJD national spokesman Shivanand Tiwari said in a press statement in Patna. Tiwari said, ''Failing to do this would be considered as weakness of Manmohan Singh's Government.''

Before Bhandari, former President K R Narayanan had accused former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of not ''properly utilising services of the army to control communal riots in Gujarat'', the RJD leader said to strengthen the demand for dismissal of Modi Government.

Bhandari has reportedly accused Modi of taking the bloody violence of February-March 2002 in Gujarat ''lightly''.

Bhandari said the riots were comparable to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.