Opposition fumes over Pragya's remark, protests in LS; Cong set to move censure motion

The opposition launched a scathing attack on BJP MP Pragya Thakur on Thursday for her remarks on Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, with the Congress and other parties set to move a censure motion against her in the Lok Sabha.

Thakur's remarks rocked the Lok Sabha as opposition members stood up and started protesting immediately after the House met.

Led by the Congress, they created an uproar and subsequently, staged a walkout from the House, expressing dissatisfaction over Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's statement condemning Thakur's remarks.

Amid the opposition protest, Singh said Gandhi's philosophy was, is and will remain relevant and described him as a guide for the nation.

"Far from talking about Nathuram Godse being called a patriot, we condemn the idea of treating him as a patriot. His (Gandhi's) philosophy was, is and will remain relevant and he is a guide ("margdarshak") for the nation," he said.

Not satisfied with the response, the opposition, led by the Congress, staged a walkout.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi termed Thakur a "terrorist" and said her comments reflected the "heart and soul" of the BJP and the RSS and this could not be hidden.

"What Pragya Thakur is saying is the heart of the BJP and the RSS. That is the centre of the BJP, that is the heart of the RSS. This cannot be hidden. It is their soul and it will come out somehow. No matter how much they worship Gandhiji, this is their soul," he told reporters on the Parliament premises.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tried to distance itself from its erring MP, dropping her from the parliamentary panel on defence and also barring her from attending its parliamentary party meeting during the ongoing winter session.

The party, however, condemned Thakur's remarks in Parliament on Wednesday referring to Godse and said it did not support such statements.

BJP working president JP Nadda also recommended Thakur's removal from the consultative committee on defence, to which she was appointed recently.

"We have decided that Thakur will not attend the meetings of the BJP parliamentary party during the session.

"We are very clear about it that we condemn her statement and we do not support this ideology," Nadda, accompanied by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, said.

Thakur, on the other hand, insisted that her remarks made in the Lok Sabha during the DMK's A Raja's narration of a statement by Godse before a court on why he had killed Gandhi were against an "insult" to revolutionary Udham Singh.

She took to Twitter to defend her comments, saying, "Storm of lies becomes so big at times that even day appears to be night but the Sun does not lose its light. People should not be swayed by this storm. Truth is that I did not tolerate insult to Udham Singh yesterday."