Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah, on Friday, 17 May, said he has taken ‘serious note’ of the remarks made party leaders Pragya Singh Thakur, Anantkumar Hegde and Nalin Kateel on Mahatma Gandhi assassin Nathuram Godse.
“The BJP has taken their statements seriously and sent these statements to the disciplinary committee,” he said, adding that “the panel seeks response from the three leaders within 10 days for their controversial remarks”.
“Statements of Ananthkumar Hegde, Pragya Thakur and Nalin Kateel are their personal opinion, BJP has nothing to do with it. They have withdrawn their statements and apologised.”Amit Shah, BJP President
On Thursday, 16 May, Pragya Singh Thakur, who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, made a startling comment on Godse, the man who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi on 30 January 1948, calling him a "patriot".
“Nathuram Godse was a ‘deshbhakt’, is a ‘deshbhakt’ and will remain a ‘deshbhakt’. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within, such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections,” she said.
Godse, Rajiv Gandhi in Same League?
Soon after Pragya’s comment, BJP leader Anantkumar Hegde and Nalin Kateel followed suit – although Hegde later claimed his account had been hacked.
Kateel compared Godse with the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, as per NDTV. He tweeted on Thursday a Twitter post that was later deleted:
“Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel in this?? (sic).”Nalin Kateel
Kateel mentioned Kasab, who was captured and convicted for 26/11 Mumbai attacks, in the same tweet.
Kateel is contesting from Dakshina Kannada in the Lok Sabha elections.
Hegde ‘Glad With Changed Perceptional Environment’
BJP lawmaker from Karnataka, Anantkumar Hegde, who has sparked controversies with his comments in the past, also took to Twitter added fuel to the fire.
"Am glad that 7 decades later today’s generation debates in a changed perceptional environment and gives good scope for the condemned to be heard. #NathuramGodse would have finally felt happy with this debate," he tweeted.
In an attempt to control the damage, he later deleted the tweet and issued an explanation, saying:
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