Modi won't quit, Kodnani not a minister during riots: Guj govt

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Dismissing demand for Chief Minister Narendra Modi's resignation following the verdict in Naroda Patiya case of 2002 riots, Gujarat government on Wednesday distanced itself from convicted BJP MLA Dr Maya Kodnani saying she was not a minister when the incident occurred.

"Let me be very clear that the MLA is not a state government functionary as you are trying to make it out, secondly, Dr Maya Kodnani was not a minister when this incident took place," government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas said while lashing out the Opposition for tageting Modi.

"They have a different yardstick for BJP, for Mr Modi there is another yardstick, and for Gujarat it is yet another one...they have their eyes on the Assembly polls," he said.

Vyas said Kodnani "is a party functionary, she is a sitting party MLA, no denying that, but that cannot be linked as you are trying to make it out", adding that the moment she was summoned for interrogation she ceased to be a minister.

Referring to Congress Minister Jagdambika Pal's demand that Modi should resign in wake of the judgement, Vyas said, "Congress demands CM's resignation in everything, or attempts to link him with anything. If this is the barometer, then those who have been convicted in the past and are ministers in the central government should also resign."

Gujarat is not the first state of country where such a judgement has come against a MLA or a Minister, there are many such states, he said.

"I don't want to take their names because the list shall be very long," he said. "I would like to maintain that unless we study the judgement in fine print, which we don't have at this juncture before us, and obtain appropriate legal advice, it would be premature to say anything on the issue," Vyas said.