Tehseen Poonawalla protests against Pragya Thakur's remarks, detained by police

Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla on Thursday staged a protest against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Pragya Thakur's comments in Parliament, where she referred to Nathuram Godse as a 'Deshbhakt' (Patriot).

Poonawalla was later detained by the Delhi police.

Thakur, who is an MP from Bhopal had triggered uproar during a discussion in the lower house on the Special Protection Group (Amendment ) Bill by DMK member A Raja, interjected with a remark purportedly in praise of Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse.

However, she later 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.

Thakur was later barred from attending all Parliamentary Party meetings for the rest of the winter season by the BJP.

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.