Report on Pragya Thakur submitted to EC over Godse 'deshbhakt' remark

District Election Officer from Agar Malwa on Friday submitted his report to Madhya Pradesh Election Commission in the matter related to BJP Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Singh Thakur's statement that "Nathuram Godse was, is and will remain a 'deshbhakt' (patriot)".

On Thursday, when asked about actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's remark that India's first terrorist was a Hindu (in reference to Godse), Thakur said, "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt', is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'."

Soon after her controversial statement on Godse, the Opposition parties attacked her saying what she said reflected the mindset of the people nurtured in RSS ideology.

As her comments caused a huge embarrassment to her party, BJP, which has strongly backed her candidature in Bhopal, without much delay tried to control the damage caused by her.

Party spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao issued a statement saying the party condemns the statement of Thakur and said she should apologise publicly for terming Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Godse a "true patriot'.

Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, is not new to courting controversies. After being fielded by the BJP in Bhopal, she had said Hemant Karkare, who was killed during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, died because she had cursed him. The statement had attracted all-round criticism including from the BJP which disowned it.

-ANI