Priyanka Gandhi dares ‘nationalistic luminaries of BJP’ to clear stand on Pragya’s ‘Godse a patriot’ remark

AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday cornered the BJP over party's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate and Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Thakur calling Mahatma Gandhi's assassin a "patriot" and asked it to clear its stand on the issue. 

"Bapu ka hatyara deshbhakt? Hey Ram! Distancing yourself from your candidate is not enough. Nationalistic luminaries of the BJP, have the guts to spell out your stand," Priyanka tweeted.  

Priyanka's attack came soon after Thakur, facing sharp criticism from both the opposition and well as her party, apologised for her remarks. "I believe in the principles and policies of my party. I am a worker of the BJP and party's line is my line," she said. 

Earlier, her spokesperson and BJP leader Dr Hitesh Bajpai said that she has apologised for her remark.

The apology came after the BJP condemned her praise for Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as "patriot" and asked her to tender a public apology.

"We completely disagree with her statement with regard to Mahatma Gandhi. We strongly condemn this statement. The party will seek clarification from her as to why she gave this. It would be proper for her to seek and tender a public apology for her objectionable statement," BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said in a statement.

Talking to a news channel in Madhya Pradesh, she said, "Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt (patriot), he is and will remain a deshbhakt. Those calling him a terrorist should instead look at themselves. They will be given a befitting reply in this election."

Thakur said this in response to a question over actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's remarks that free India's first extremist was a Hindu, a reference to Godse.

This is not the first time her extreme views have embarrassed the BJP after it fielded her from Bhopal against Congress leader Digvijay Singh, projecting her as a "victim" of the UPA government's "fake Hindu terror" theory.

She was earlier forced to apologise after claiming that IPS officer Hemant Karkare, who was killed by terrorists during the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, died as she had cursed him after her arrest in Malegaon blast case.