New Delhi: Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate, on Wednesday accused the media of smearing his image over the 2002 Gujarat riots in which more than 1,000 people lost their lives.
Modi is also chief minister of Gujarat and was in power during the pogrom.
“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.
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 2002-07,” 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 judgement.”
