Pragya calls Godse 'patriot', BJP 'doesn't agree' with her

BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha seat candidate and Malegaon blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur Thursday kicked up a row as she called Mahatma Gandhi's assassin a "patriot".

The Madhya Pradesh BJP, however, distanced itself from her statement saying it did not agree with her as Mahatma Gandhi's killer cannot be a patriot.

Talking to a news channel here, Thakur said, "Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt (patriot), he is and will remain a deshbhakt. Those calling him a terrorist should instead look at themselves. They will be given a befitting reply in this election."
Addressing an election campaign rally at Aravakurichi (Tamil Nadu) on May 12, Haasan had said, "I am not saying this because this is a Muslim-dominated area, but I am saying this before a statue of Gandhi. Free India's first terrorist was a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse. There it (terrorism, apparently) starts."