BJP MP Pragya Thakur has been removed from the consultative committee of the defense ministry a day after she described Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a patriot in parliament. Her comments had sparked outrage, with the opposition in Lok Sabha condemning what it called the “BJP’s deplorable hate politics.”
“We have decided that Pragya Singh Thakur will be removed from the consultative committee of defense, and in this session, she will not be allowed to participate in BJP parliamentary party meetings,” said BJP’s working president JP Nadda.
“Her statement yesterday in the parliament is condemnable. BJP never supports such a statement or ideology,” said Mr. Nadda.
Pragya Thakur, a first-time MP, made the Godse comment during a discussion on the Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday. As protests erupted in the house, BJP members asked Pragya Thakur to sit down. “That is the heart of the RSS and the BJP. That is their soul and no matter how much they say otherwise, it will always come out,” said Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
Later, pressed by reporters to clarify her remarks, Pragya Thakur said, “Listen to what I said first. I’d reply tomorrow.”
“The very soch (thinking) of Nathuram Godse being deshbhakt (patriot), should end,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in parliament today.
There was outrage and much social media debate after Pragya Thakur was last week listed among the 21 members of the parliamentary consultative committee on Defence chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The BJP had said that the first-time MP can help in “framing right methodology” so that innocents are not “victimized” the way she was by the Congress-led government.
Pragya Thakur, a 2008 Malegaon blasts accused, is out on bail and is facing trial for charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
She had been berated earlier this year by her party for calling Nathuram Godse a patriot.
