NEW DELHI/AHMEDABAD, 22 July — The main opposition Congress party has demanded imposition of president rule in the riot-shattered western state of Guajarat to ensure free and fair elections to the state assembly.

Chief Minister Narendra Modi resigned Friday and recommended the dissolution of the house necessitating elections in the state to elect a new assembly.

But the Congress is building pressure on the state governor to impose central rule to ensure that the electoral rolls are not tampered with under the caretaker government of Modi. A Congress delegation led by leader of opposition in Gujarat Assembly Amarsinh Chaudhury met Governor S.S. Bhandari late Saturday and submitted a memorandum pressing its demand for the imposition of president’s rule.

Later, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee President Shankarsinh Vaghela told reporters in Ahmedabad that the delegation had demanded central rule as the situation in the state was similar to that of Jammu and Kashmir and was not conducive for a free and fair elections.

However, ruling Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rejected the call for central rule in Gujarat. The BJP said the Congress’ call shows that "the party was not prepared for the elections and was reluctant to go to the voters."

A debate on Gujarat is scheduled to take place in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday and in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. All the parties have begun their home work for participating in the debate.

The opposition wants to use this opportunity to put the BJP-led government on the mat on the contentious issue of holding elections in the state which has witnessed large-scale violence in the last three months.

Over 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed, thousands rendered homeless and property worth billions of rupees destroyed in the violence.

Former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral also said Saturday that the issue in Gujarat is not the date of the assembly elections but the atmosphere after the communal violence and whether the state is in a position to hold free and fair polls.

Gujral, who led a delegation of the Forum for Fraternity and Reconciliation, a rights group, to meet Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh, said the commissioner appeared to agree with this view. "We came back with the impression that the issue is not the date of the election.

"The issue is atmosphere. If the situation is all right it can be held tomorrow. Otherwise, it cannot be held even in a year," Gujral said.

The BJP yesterday put key leaders in charge of its affairs in two states where assembly elections are likely to be held in the next few months. Party general secretary and spokesman Arun Jaitley was given charge of BJP’s wing in Gujarat, one of only four states the party currently rules and where it is demanding early elections in a bid to retain power.

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Rajnath Singh will be in charge of the party’s affairs in Kashmir, where elections are due in October. BJP President Venkaiah Naidu appointed Rajnath and Jaitley as party general secretaries after taking over as party chief on July 1.

Meanwhile, no violence was reported yesterday from Viramgam city, 50 km from Ahmedabad, even as it continued to be under curfew following last week’s sectarian violence. Two persons were killed and eight injured on Friday when police fired on Hindu and Muslim mobs as they clashed with each other.

The violence coincided with Modi’s decision to seek fresh mandate, saying the law and order situation in Gujarat was normal.