Bhopal/New Delhi: A local district election officer in Madhya Pradesh has submitted a report to the Election Commission over BJP’s Bhopal candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur’s controversial remarks glorifying Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as “patriot”.
In another development, the BJP on Friday withdrew Pragya from campaigning of the party for the May 19 Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh.
She was scheduled to attend a road show of the party as BJP’s star campaigner at Burhanpur under Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency on Friday. But, she was barred from participating in the road show by the party leadership, sources disclosed.
Talking to reporters on Friday, MP chief electoral officer (CEO) V.L. Kantha Rao said he has submitted the report on Pragya’s remarks on Godse to the EC.
Pragya, an accused in 2008 Malegaon terror blast in which six people died and 101 were injured, on Thursday said “Godse was a patriot, is a patriot and will remain a patriot. Those who call him terrorist should look at themselves. They will be given a befitting reply in this election.”
Her statement, made during a road show of the party in Agar-Malwa in MP, had sparked nationwide outrage forcing BJP to distance itself from her comment. Later, she tendered a public apology for her statement.
Meanwhile, BJP on Friday suspended its Madhya Pradesh spokesperson Anil Saumitra from the primary membership of the party for calling Mahatma Gandhi “the father of Pakistan.”
Saumitra, in a Facebook post, had referred to Mahatma Gandhi as the “father of Pakistan”. “Pakistan was born with the blessings of Bapu, therefore, Mahatma Gandhi can be called the father of Pakistan and not of India,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
Madhya Pradesh BJP unit chief Rakesh Singh conducted an investigation into the matter and directed Saumitra, who is also the chief of BJP’s media relations department, to reply within seven days.
