Samikhsya Bureau
In a sharp attack on the BJP on the statement by its Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur, describing Nathuram Godse as a ‘True Nationalist’, Congress leader and AICC general secretary for Uttar Pradesh (east) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday said the nationalistic luminaries of the saffron party should spell out their stand on the statement.
In a post on social media, Gandhi Vadra, targeting the top leadership of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, said that merely distancing themselves from Thakur’s statement was not enough but that the ‘nationalistic‘ leaders of the saffron party should also spell out their stand on the issue.
“Bapu ka Hatyara Deshbhakt? Hey ram (The assassin of the father of the nation a nationalist? Oh My God) Distancing yourself from your candidate is not enough. Nationalistic luminaries of the BJP, have the guts to spell out your stand,’’ she said in a strongly-worded tweet.
Thakur on Thursday called Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse a ‘patriot’.
“People calling him a terrorist should instead look within. Such people will be given a befitting reply in this election. Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt [patriot], he is and will remain a deshbhakt,” she said.
After the controversy generated by the remark, the saffron party, however, distanced itself from Thakur’s statement. Later Thakur’s spokesperson and BJP leader Hitesh Bajpai said that she had apologised for her remark.
This is not the first time Thakur has kicked off a row for her utterances. After given BJP ticket for Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, she shocked everyone by saying that top Mumbai police officer Hemant Karkare was killed in action during 26/11 Mumbai attack because of her curse. As Maharashtra’s anti-terrorist squad chief, Karkare investigated Thakur’s involvement in Malegaon blast case. Thakur was in jail for her terror links.
After outcry all over, she apologised for her remark on Karkare, a decorated martyr.
(With agency reports)
