<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: Confronted with a swirling controversy over Narendra Modi''s anti-Christian tirade against Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh, Prime Minister Vajpayee moved on Saturday to limit some of the damage. <br />In a terse statement released to the media, he pulled up the Gujarat chief minister for using "improper language" and making "indecorous insinuations" against the Election Commission for its decision to postpone assembly elections in the state.</div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: 0"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="36.5%"> <colgroup> <col width="0.0%" /> <col width="99.3%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="0.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top;="" background-color:="" white="" ;="" ''=""> <div class="Normal"><a name="modi"></a><span style="" color:="" #ffffff;="" font-weight:="" bold;''="">The story so far</span> <br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" 7pt;''="">â€¢ The EC undertakes a tour of Gujarat and rules out early Assembly polls in the state.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" 7pt;''="">â€¢ Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi lauches a blistering attack on Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" 7pt;''="">â€¢ Lyngdoh hits back at Modi for attacking him on religious grounds, saying it was "quite despicable."</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" 7pt;''="">â€¢ The Prime Minister says no one should use "improper language or make indecorous insinuations" in expressing views on the EC''s decision on Gujarat.</span> <br /></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br />The PM''s attempt to distance himself from his party stalwart comes a day after Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi also criticised Modi for his comments.<br />"I am distressed by the undignified controversy involving the chief election commissioner and the chief minister of Gujarat in the context of the Assembly elections in Gujarat. Both are high Constitutional authorities and they must be given the respect that is their due," Vajpayee said.<br />Appealing to all to end the "unseemly controversy", the PM said: "One may have differences over the decision or the attendant observations of the EC with regard to the assembly polls in Gujarat. There are constitutional means to deal with such matters."<br />While speaking at a public meeting at Bodeli near Vadodara on August 20, Modi had singled out Lyngdoh for attack, describing the CEC as an "Italian" and blatantly insinuating that the EC had delayed the elections because Lyngdoh was Christian.<br />He said: "Some journalists asked me recently, ''Has James Michael Lyngdoh come from Italy?'' I said I don''t have his janam patri. I will have to ask Rajiv Gandhi. Then the journalists said, ''Do they meet in church?'' I replied, ''Maybe they do''."<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold;''="">Related stories: </span><br /><img src="/images/ticker.gif">Â <a href="/articleshow.cms?msid=20086710">Text of Vajpayee''s statement</a><br /><img src="/images/ticker.gif">Â <a href="/articleshow.cms?msid=19987827">Lyngdoh hits back at Modi</a><br /><img src="/images/ticker.gif">Â <a href="/articleshow.cms?msid=19694620&sType=1">Modi takes pot-shots at Lyngdoh</a> </img></img></img></div> </div>

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