New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party today defended Bhopal MP Pragya Thakur after she called Nathuram Godse a "deshbhakt" in the lower house of the Parliament.
The incident took place during a discussion of the Special Protection Group (SPG) Amendment Bill, 2019. When DMK MP and former union minister A. Raja referred Gandhi assassination in his speech while making his point on SPG (amendment) bill, 2019.
Thakur interrupted to say, "You cannot give example of a deshbhakt."
The BJP defended her saying that Pragya Thakur had not mentioned Nathuram Godse by name on the floor of the house.
"She made objection when the name of Udham Singh was being taken," said Prahlad Joshi, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister.
Raja had said that Godse himself admitted that he had nursed a grudge against Gandhi for 32 years before finally deciding to assassinate him.
Godse, Raja said, killed Gandhi because he believed in a particular philosophy.
The Congress was quick to condemn her statement and party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said even as the nation celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the BJP MP is glorifying Godse.
Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha who is also a RJD national spokesperson said, "Let us see what action BJP leadership will take against Pragya Thakur for her comments about Bapu's killer on the floor of the house. The nation can't live with the ecosystem of Godse promoters or else the father of the nation shall himself relinquish the position."
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