Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said his late father and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray had supported Narendra Modi when there was a demand for removing the latter as Gujarat chief minister in the wake of 2002 post-Godhra riots.

Thackeray made the comments in an interview to Marathi daily 'Loksatta'. He said demand was being raised to remove Modi as Gujarat chief minister when BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister of the country. During that period, another BJP bigwig LK Advani had come to Mumbai to attend a rally and discussed the demand with Bal Thackeray, the Maharashtra chief minister said.