Can't forgive Pragya Singh Thakur for 'Godse deshbhakt' remark, says PM Narendra Modi

BJP has come under attack from Congress after its leaders praised Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse and hailed him as a patriot.

Image Courtesy: Twitter/@ANI

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that he will never forgive BJP candidate Pragya Singh Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi by calling his assassin Nathuram Godse a true patriot.

PM Modi said this to a TV channel during his last rally ahead of the last phase of voting in the Lok Sabha polls, and further added that Sadhvi's comments were detrimental to society.

"The remarks made about Gandhiji or Nathuram Godse are very bad and very wrong for society," he said. "She has sought an apology but I would never be able to forgive her fully," he added.

Earlier on Friday, BJP president Amit Shah said remarks on Mahatma Gandhi's assassin by three BJP leaders Thakur, Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde and Karnataka MP Nalin Kumar Kateel were not in line with the party's ideology.

Shah had said the party's disciplinary committee has sought an explanation from them in 10 days.

During a roadshow in Madhya Pradesh's Agar town, Thakur had said, Nathuram Godseji deshbhakt the, hai, aur rahenge unko aatankwadi kahne wale log swayam ki gireban me jhaank kar dekhe chunav mein aise logon ko jawab de diya jayega (Nathuram Godse was a patriot, is a patriot, and will remain a patriot those who call him a terrorist should look within they will get a reply in this election).

She was responding to a comment made by actor-turned-politician Kaman Haasan, who said Godse was the first Hindu terrorist in independent India.

The Malegaon blast accused later apologised for her statement. 

As the row over Thakur's remarks escalated, BJP's MP from Karnataka Nalin Kumar Kateel compared Godse with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel?" Kateel tweeted on Thursday, equating Godse, 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab and Rajiv Gandhi.

Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde also found himself in the news with a purported tweet justifying Godse's action. However, later the minister claimed that his account was hacked.

Taking a swipe at the BJP and its parent body - the RSS, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the two organisations are not "God-ke Lovers" but "God-se lovers".

The Congress president took to Twitter to take a swipe at both the BJP and the RSS and tweeted, ''I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS...Are not God-Ke Lovers. They are God-Se Lovers.''