In his just published memoirs, Singh, who served as Minister for External Affairs, Defence and Finance in the NDA government, has termed the 2002 riots a “blot on Gujarat’s face” and regrets they “sullied the BJP too”.

Although he avoids blaming the tragedy on Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, Jaswant Singh is anguished that these riots blackened NDA’s “impeccable record”.

He argues in his new book, A Call to Honour: In Service of Emergent India, that “On the BJP’s score card, there are two major negatives”. According to him, these are the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 and the reluctance to control the rioting in Gujarat in 2002.

On Babri Masjid, Jaswant Singh says, “the failure of control over the Ram temple movement, is accepted, and greatly regretted”.

The other negative, he goes on, was “the loss of state control, in 2002, in Gujarat”. “Till this development there had not been a single communal riot” under the BJP’s rule.

“A mishandling of events, as a consequence of Godhra and whatever happened as a reaction, gave substance to the worst imaginings about the BJP, so were forced to observe even those who remain very sympathetic towards it”, says Jaswant Singh.

Meanwhile, PM dares him to name ‘mole’ in Rao PMO

• NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday dared Jaswant Singh to name the person who he claimed was a mole in the PMO leaking nuclear secrets to the US during the tenure of P V Narasimha Rao.

“If he (Jaswant) has the decency and courage, he should name the person whom he is accusing of being a mole. We are not afraid of any debate on any issue,” the PM told reporters.