File photo of Arun Jaitley
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley today said there is no need for an apology from Narendra Modi on the 2002 riots, saying the Gujarat Chief Minister does not have to do it to satisfy a "fake campaign" against him.
"Those asking for an apology wanted the apology to be an act of confession. If he has actually committed a mistake why apologise, he should have been prosecuted and punished for it. (
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"We can squabble over the kind of expressions one wants to use... to satisfy a fake campaign he does not have to apologise," Mr Jaitley said in an interaction with foreign journalists in New Delhi.
Mr Jaitley, however, said that Mr Modi is certainly "concerned" about the violence and wants to put a system in place so the riots are not repeated.
Mr Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said all Gujaratis, including Muslims, have prospered under Mr Modi's rule and the voices demanding an apology are not coming from within the state. "These are coming from these campaigns," he said.
Quizzed over the unease of Muslims about Mr Modi and what he and the BJP have done to assuage these apprehensions, Mr Jaitley said they were concerned about the security of the minority community, non-discrimination and their economic progress.
"Modi himself repeats this assurance of security, non-discrimination and economic progress when he repeatedly says that the primary document of governance will be Indian constitution... That is why efforts of our opponent to create this scare are not working," he said.
Mr Jaitley said the country, including a large number of people belonging to the minority community, has left behind the issues of 2002 riots and about Mr Modi being a polarising figure, it was only for those who turned the propaganda against him into a "way of life".
"This entire argument of Modi being a polarising figure is projected by those who had unleashed a personal campaign against him post 2002 in the hope that allegations will stick...No Indian politician has had to face that kind of both public and judicial scrutiny," he said.
Mr Jaitley said Mr Modi's critics claimed after he had received a clean chit in the investigations that his projection as PM candidate will polarise India on the basis of religion.
"Quite to the contrary, India has got polarised on the issues of governance... It is an evidence that a very large number of people, including those in the minority community, can see reason and truth," he said, adding that another claim about BJP not getting allies has also been proved incorrect.
Asked how much of Muslim votes BJP expects to get, he said they were aiming to get a very large number of them.
He cited the win of BJP candidates, including Muslims, in municipal elections in Muslim-dominated areas of Gujarat and that all the four victorious Muslim MLAs in Rajasthan belong to the party as proof of its success in winning over a section of the minority votes.
Quizzed on Mr Modi's reluctance for media interviews, Mr Jaitley hinted that some interviews may be on the way while arguing that he has been communicating with people more than any other Indian politician.
"He (Modi) has given some interviews and I am sure he is going to give some others," he said.
Asked about the influence of RSS, seen as the ideological fountainhead of the larger Parivar to which BJP belongs, in the likelihood of a BJP-led government, he shot back, "as a political party we take our own decisions".