Modi an 'unchanged lunatic', says CPI

NEW DELHI: Calling Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi an 'unchanged lunatic', the Communist Party of India (CPI) Thursday said it would urge the Election Commission to bar him from contesting elections.

"Modi is an unchanged lunatic. He is a cynical and criminal challenge to democracy," CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said in parliament house.

Referring to Modi's remarks justifying Sohrabuddin Sheikh's fake encounter death, over which the state is fighting a case in the Supreme Court, Dasgupta said, "The Election Commission should take suo motu note of his unpardonable remarks to defend a murder as well as his role in engineering riots to win elections and bar him from contesting."

"We are approaching the commission to seek his disqualification from contesting election," he added.

Gujarat goes to polls December 11 and 16.

Alleging that the chief minister was 'deliberately pandering to Hindu communalism to win elections', Dasgupta said he would like to know the reaction of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to his remarks.

Dasgupta also said that the Liberhan Commission that probed the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya should not be given further extension. "The panel should be asked to submit its report by the budget session early next year."

The Liberhan panel, formed in 1993 to probe the mosque razing Dec 6, 1992, has been given 42 extensions so far.