Bharatiya Janata Party Lal Kishenchand Advani defended Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi [Images] for his alleged remarks justifying the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a fake encounter in 2005.

He wanted to know if the Election Commission, which had issued a notice to Modi for breach of model code of conduct, had also issued a similar notice to Sonia Gandhi [Images] for calling Modi a merchant of death.

"The BJP has taken objection to Sonia Gandhi's provocative statement. We are yet to hear if the election commission has issued notice to her. We hope there will be no double standards in this matter," he said.

He accused the Congress president of demonising a democratically elected chief minister by calling him 'Maut ka saudagar'.

"This is not only an insult to the people of Gujarat, but also unprecedented even in the Congress party's own sordid history of vote bank politics," he said.

Replying to a question on whether it was the BJP which was following Modi than the other way round, Advani said the people were entitled to have their own views in this matter. "I would be happy if some one becomes more popular than me," he said.

PTI adds:

The central government should not go ahead with India-United States nuclear deal, leader of the opposition Lal Kishenchand Advani said on Friday.

He also asked the Election Commission to take action against Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her 'merchant of death' remarks against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

He said Modi's comments were in reaction to Sonia's remarks.

Modi's remarks were in the context of terrorism, and there was nothing in it to admonish him, Advani said. Sonia Gandhi's 'merchant of death' and 'dishonest' remarks against Modi were highly objectionable, Advani said.

On West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya's remarks on Lord Ram, he said it is highly objectionable and an offence under law. He said Bhattacharya's apology on Nandigram [Images] was not enough and sought action against the perpetrators.