Congress will move censure motion against Pragya Thakur: Tharoor

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said that Bhopal BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur should not be allowed to sit in the Parliament until she apologises for her remark on Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse in House yesterday. He also said that Congress is planning to move a censure motion against her.

"They (BJP) gave her a ticket and brought her to the parliament, what will happen by not allowing her in parliamentary party meetings? She should not be allowed to sit in parliament till she apologises, we will demand a censure motion," said Tharoor.

His statement came after BJP barred Pragya Singh Thakur from attending all Parliamentary Party meetings for the rest of the Winter session. The BJP has also recommended that Thakur be dropped from a key parliamentary panel, the Consultative Committee of the Defence Ministry.

A censure motion can be moved generally opposing policies of Government or an individual minister. However, it can also be passed to criticize, condemn some act.

The MP from Bhopal had triggered uproar during a discussion in the lower house on Wednesday when she interjected DMK leader A Raja's speech during a discussion on Special Protection Group (Amendment ) Bill and praised Mahatma Gandhi's assassin, Nathuram Godse.

However, later on, she claimed that she was referring to Udham Singh. Speaker Om Birla expunged Thakur's remark from the record but opposition members protested outside the House.

Earlier this year, she described Godse as a 'patriot' and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made it clear that such statements would not be tolerated by the party.