Stepping up his offensive against Narendra Modi ahead of Gujarat assembly elections, Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Party chief Lalu Prasad on Monday said he would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday to seek action against the Chief Minister in the wake of the Tehelka expose on the 2002 post-Godhra communal riots.
"I'll meet the Prime Minister tomorrow to demand action against Modi after the expose that has conclusively established Modi's role in the Gujarat riots which left thousands dead. I'll demand the Gujarat chief minister's immediate arrest after institution of mass murder case against him," Prasad told a press conference.
Several saffron brigade leaders including Godhra BJP MLA Haresh Bhatt, Shiv Sena leader Babu Bajrangi and VHP leaders Anil Patel and Dhaval Jayant Patel were shown on Tehelka tapes beamed on TV channels bragging their "feats" during the 2002 Gujarat carnage, which, they claimed, had the sanction of Modi.
"No more evidence is needed. The Tehelka tapes are sufficient evidence to book Modi under section 302 and place him and other perpetrators of the communal carnage orchestrated by the saffron outfits under arrest," he said.
Prasad said he would seek intervention of the prime minister and the Union home minister to ensure that journalists who probed the Gujarat riots were not persecuted.