Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Madan Lal Khurana has sent a letter to party president L K Advani demanding the removal of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi [Images] to clear the 'taint' on the party due to the Gujarat riots.

Can't work under Advani: Khurana

In his letter, the former Delhi chief minister said the BJP should emulate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] who apologised for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and removed Jagdish Tytler from his council of ministers.

"I request to you that like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cleaned the stain on his party by removing Jagdish Tytler from his council of ministers and apologising to the Sikhs and the nation, the BJP too should also remove Narendra Modi from Gujarat chief ministership and clean up the party," Khurana said.

Virtually holding Modi guilty for the 2002 riots in his state, the BJP leader cited critical observations made by the Supreme Court on the role of the Gujarat chief minister.

Khurana also noted that former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani himself had expressed regrets over the riots.