Sadhvi Pragya Apologises For Godse Remark, Hits Out At Rahul Gandhi For Calling Her A "Terrorist"

The BJP leadership swung into action on Thursday and sacked Thakur from the parliamentary panel on Defence and asked her not to join meetings of the parliamentary party in the remaining winter session.

BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur speaking in the Lok Sabha

New Delhi: Firebrand BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur on Friday expressed regret iover her remarks on Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse but also hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for calling her a "terrorist". Acknowledging Mahatma Gandhi's contributions to the country, Thakur said in the Lok Sabha that her statement was twisted and quoted out of context, which she believes was condemnable. Without referring to Rahul Gandhi by name, Thakur said "No charges against me have been proven in court" adding " It is an attack on me as a woman, a Parliamentarian and a sanyaasi. His remarks have hurt me for which I demand an apology". Sadhvi Pragya Thakur's reply came after opposition benches demanded an apology from her and submitted a censure motion signed by 50 MPs to Speaker Om Birla. As she completed her statement, Opposition members raised "Down, Down Godse"from their benches causing a massive upheaval in the Lower House. Unconvinced with her apology, leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says "We just have one demand, we want unqualified apology". Coming to her defence was BJP MP Nishikant Dubey who demanded to bring privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi for dubbing her a 'terrorist'. As the uproar escalated, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla called a meeting of floor leaders of different political parties to end the row. The Bhopal MP faces charges in Malegaon blasts case and her remarks on Godse in which she called him a "deshbhakt"was later expunged from the House records on Wednesday. As her remarks kicked up a row, the BJP leadership swung into action on Thursday and sacked Thakur from the parliamentary panel on Defence and asked her not to join meetings of the parliamentary party in the remaining winter session. This is not the first time the MP from Bhopal has made such statements. She has frequently made news through controversies and embarrassed the party leadership.

Terrorist Pragya calls terrorist Godse, a patriot.

A sad day, in the history of India’s Parliament. — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 28, 2019

During the Lok Sabha elections this year, Thakur had claimed that ATS chief Hemant Karkare died during the attack as she had “cursed” him for torturing her when he probed the blast case as chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad.