Congress dismisses Narendra Modi's charge against P Chidambaram

Congress Sunday dismissed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's charge against Home Minister P Chidambaram of "promoting indiscipline" in the police force, suggesting finding truth behind the riots in 2002 was "more important than disciplining the officers."

"The Gujarat Chief Minister for the last nine years has been obfuscating the issue. It needs to be given a serious thought as to what is more important - disciplining the officers or (finding the) truth of the massacre," party spokesman Manish Tewari said.

His remarks came a day after Modi shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his direct intervention against Chidambaram for his remarks on Gujarat IPS officers, saying they were aimed at "promoting indiscipline" in the police force.

"Congress-led UPA government is trying to destabilise the democratically-elected government in the state of Gujarat," Modi said in his letter to the Prime Minister.

His letter to the prime minister came after Chidambaram's remark two days back that the Centre could intervene on the issue of IPS officers of Gujarat if the affected officers so wanted.

The Gujarat government has suspended IPS officers Sanjiv Bhatt and chargesheeted another senior officer Rahul Sharma, whistle-blowers of the 2002 Gujarat riots.