SIT powerless,independent agency should have probed riots: Congress

When asked why he he did not rake up the issue earlier, the Congress leader said he had appeared for the victims in court. He said while he is not making any allegation, the needle of suspicion points towards the Gujarat administration.

With the election nearing, Congress has been sharpening its attack on BJP's PM candidate over the post-Godhra riots with Rahul Gandhi demanding “legal accountability” for the “clear and inexcusable failure” of governance during the violence, and dismissed talk of a clean chit to Modi as “politically expedient” but “far too premature”.

Sibal also rejected suggestions of a ‘Modi wave' in the Lok Sabha elections saying the way the BJP was tying up with regional outfits proved that it was not confident that its prime ministerial candidate alone can bring sufficient numbers.

“If Modi is so confident, then he should contest from Varanasi alone and not stand from another seat in Gujarat. If there is a wave in his favour in Tamil Nadu, will he contest against P Chidambaram's son from Sivaganga,” he quipped.

He also took a dig at BJP for denying ticket to party eteran Jaswant Singh.

“Modi only believes in himself. Lok Sabha elections are fought on the basis of policies of political parties not individuals,” he said.