Centre conspiring against Modi, says Rajanth

New Delhi, July 26 (IANS) The BJP Thursday accused the Congress-led central government of conspiring against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Reacting to Modi's interview to a Urdu weekly where he remarked he was ready to be hanged if found guilty in the 2002 Gujarat riots, former BJP president Rajanth Singh said: "He has not been proven guilty. None of the courts has found him guilty. Even after 10 years, they have not been able to prove anything."

"This is an organised conspiracy by the central government to malign the Gujarat chief minister and the Gujarat government. They are trying to bring a bad name to a model government," he said.

In an interview to Nai Duniya, Modi said "Hang me if I am guilty ('Main gunehgaar hoon toh mujhe phaansi par latkaa do')" on the Gujarat riots.

Modi, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, has been accused of giving tacit support to the riots in which more than 1,000 Muslims were killed following the Feb 27, 2002, Godhra train burning incident in which 57 'kar sewaks' returning from Ayodhya were burnt alive.