Maharashtra govt seeks explanation from IAS officer on controversial Gandhi tweet

Maharashtra state government sought explanations from IAS officer Nidhi Chaudhary on her controversial tweet of May 17 on Mahatma Gandhi.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress party have also demanded strict action against Chaudhary after her tweet.

On May 17, Nidhi tweeted: "What an exceptional celebration of 150th birth year is going on. High time, we remove his face from our currency, his statutes from across the world, rename institutions/roads named after him! That would be a real tribute from all of us! ThankU Godse for 30.01.1948."

Her tweet coincided with the controversy, which erupted over Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur's, now an MP, statement that the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, was a true patriot.

However, in her recent tweet, she said that her earlier tweet was misunderstood and she would never even dream of insulting Mahatma Gandhi.

"I have deleted my tweet of 17.05.2019 w.r.t. Gandhiji because some people misunderstood it. If only they had followed my timeline since 2011 they would've understood that I would NEVER even dream of insulting Gandhiji. I bow before him with the deepest regard and will do till my last breath," she tweeted.