PM Modi slams Pragya Thakur, BJP defends her candidature

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said he will never be able to forgive BJP’s Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi by euologising his assassin Nathuram Godse as a patriot.

Though Modi castigated Thakur publicly, the BJP does not regret fielding her from Bhopal despite the fact that she was facing trial in the Malegaon terror blast case.

At a press conference where Modi was seated next to him at the party headquarters, BJP president Amit Shah said it was “our satyagraha” against the Hindutva terror bogey and the fake case foisted against Thakur by the previous Congressled UPA government.


To contain damage during the last phase of polling due on Sunday and the bad press BJP got on the issue, Modi told a news channel in an interview that: “The statements that have been made about Gandhiji or Nathuram Godse are very bad and very wrong for society. Although she has offered an apology, I would never be able to forgive her”.

Shah also expressed “regret” at her remark which he insisted reflected her personal and not the party’s view. At the same time, BJP chief also sought an apology from his Congress counterpart Rahul Gandhi for ‘maligning Hindu sanskriti’.

He stated that ‘imaginary’ and ‘false’ Hindutva terror cases were registered and cited Samjhauta train blast case to back his contention.

On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi hit back at the BJP as he tweeted: “I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS... Are not God-Ke Lovers. They are God-Se Lovers”.

Rahul’s sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, however, wondered how Bapu’s killers can be patriots. “Bapu ka hatyaara deshbakt… Hey Ram… Distancing yourself from your candidate is not enough. Nationalistic luminaries of the BJP, have the guts to spell out your stand,” Vadra posted on the social media as Congress urged Election Commission to cancel her candidature.

Shah, however, stated the BJP has issued notices to her and two other party leaders from Karnataka --Union minister Anant Kumar Hegde and lawmaker Nalin Kumar Kateel -- for making similar offensive comments and have been asked to furnish response in 10 days. The party’s disciplinary committee, he pointed out, will decide action against each of them.

Earlier, Thakur was forged to tender an apology on her Godse was a patriot and would remain so forever remark which she said Thursday in a response to a query on actor-politician Kamal Haasan. The founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam, Haasan had stated that the first terrorist after Independence was a Hindu -- Nathuram Godse.