Leaders of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that heads India's ruling coalition rejected today an offer by the chief of riot-torn Gujarat state to quit, party sources said.
The executive has rejected the resignation offer, a source said after the BJP's elite national executive held an unscheduled session late today following.
Gujarat chief minister Mr Narendra Modi made the offer to BJP leaders in a bid to limit damage to the embattled federal government over India's worst communal clashes in a decade.
The source said a formal announcement of the decision was expected soon.
BJP officials have gathered for a three-day meeting in the coastal state of Goa aimed at seeking to limit the political fallout from the Gujarat controversy and reverse recent electoral losses. They have vowed to stand by the chief minister.
The decision by the party executive means continued heavy pressure on Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee from coalition partners and the opposition who had demanded he dismiss Mr Modi over his response to the Hindu-Muslim clashes in which more than 825 people died. Mr Modi has denied any wrongdoing.