NEW DELHI, June 13: India's former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said on Sunday his Hindu nationalist party could sack the hardline leader of Gujarat state who is accused of turning a blind eye to anti-Muslim riots which killed 2,000 people in 2002.

Vajpayee told the Zee news channel that his party could decide on sacking Chief Minister Narendra Modi at the party's top-level meeting in Mumbai next week. His remarks came a day after Vajpayee said the Gujarat riots were a reason for the BJP's surprise rout in elections.

Asked on Sunday if removing Modi would be an option to move the BJP forward, Vajpayee said: "Yes. We have to see what can benefit us and what will not." Vajpayee said he had favoured dismissing Modi after the bloodshed broke out.

"Immediately after the riots, there were two shades of opinion, one which said Modi should be dismissed and the other that he should quit. I too was of the view that he should quit," Vajpayee said. "But when the party told me to take a decision, I had to weigh both sides," Vajpayee said. "Whatever damage could have happened has happened. Now we have to think of a new beginning," he said.

Vajpayee's remarks were rebutted by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad which said Vajpayee and other top leaders and not Modi bore responsibility for the election defeat. -AFP