BJP's motormouth candidate Pragya Thakur on Thursday stunned everyone including her own party by declaring Mahatma Gandhi's shooter, Nathuram Godse, a "true patriot". Thakur, a Malegaon blasts accused currently out on bail and contending on a BJP ticket from Bhopal, said, "Nathuram Godse ek deshbhakt the, deshbhakt hain aur deshbhakt rahenge [Nathuram Godse was, is, and will remain a patriot]." It would be proper for her to tender a public apology for this objectionable statement," said BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao. Later, BJP leader Hitesh Bajpai said that Pragya had apologised for her statement, but refused to share the details of the apology. Opposition parties lapped up the issue to attack the BJP, questioning its nationalism in fielding Pragya whose candidature was backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Source: dna May 16, 2019 23:26 UTC