Pragya Thakur gives privilege notice against Rahul Gandhi for 'terrorist' remark

BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur has given a breach of privilege notice to Lok Sabha Secretariat against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for calling her a "terrorist", sources said.

The matter was raised by Thakur when she tendered an apology in the House for the first time on Friday following controversy over her remarks concerning Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse.

"I want to tell the House that a member has publicly called me a terrorist. Despite the conspiracies of the then government against me, no charge has been proved against me. Without charge having been proved, calling me a terrorist is against the law. It is an attempt to insult me as a woman, as a sanyasi as an MP, and is an attack on my dignity," she said.

Pragya Thakur, who is MP from Bhopal, also said that her remarks had different context which was wrongly presented. "The way my words have been twisted, it is condemnable. I respect the service done by Mahatma Gandhi for the country", she said.

After opposition members created a furore over apology tendered by Thakur, BJP member Nishikant Dubey raked up Gandhi's remarks. He said Rahul Gandhi had used the word "terrorist" for Pragya Thakur. "It is a matter of privilege. Action should be taken against him. He should come to the House and apologise," he said.

Reacting to Thakur's now-expunged comment calling Nathuram Godse a "patriot", Rahul Gandhi had called her a terrorist on Thursday. "Terrorist Pragya calls terrorist Godse, a patriot. A sad day, in the history of India's Parliament," the former Congress president had tweeted.

She later apologised for her comments even as she insisted that the comment was not intended for Naturam Godse but at Revolutionary Udham Singh.

"On November 27 during the discussion on SPG bill, I did not call Nathuram Godse 'deshbhakt', did not take his name. Even then if someone has been hurt, I express regret and seek an apology," she said in the Parliament.

Anguished over Gandhi's tweet, Union Minister Giriraj Singh has demanded that Rahul Gandhi apologise to Pragya Singh Thakur who is an accused in the 2008 Malegoan blast case.

"Rahul Gandhi will have to apologise or he will face a privilege motion," said Singh while speaking to ANI.