‘PM Modi’s Statement Not Good Enough, Sack Pragya,’ Demand Tweeple

Tweeple also questioned BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde’s claims of his account being hacked.

BJP candidate Pragya Sigh Thakur called Nathuram Godse a ‘deshbhakt’ and then later apologised. 

(Photo: Erum Gour/ The Quint)

BJP candidate from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur on Thursday, 16 May, called Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a "deshbhakt" (patriot).

“Nathuram Godse was a ‘deshbhakt’, is a ‘deshbhakt’ and will remain a ‘deshbhakt’. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within. Such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections,” she said.

BJP condemned her statement and spokesperson G V L Narsimha Rao said Pragya should apologise. On Friday, 17 May, Pragya Singh Thakur apologised for her statement. “I apologise to the people of the country for my statements on Nathuram Godse,” she tweeted in Hindi. “My statement was absolutely wrong. I have a lot of respect for the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi.”

Prime Minister Modi also slammed Pragya Thakur in an interview on Friday, 17 May, for “insulting Bapu” and hailing his assassin Nathuram Godse as a “deshbhakt”.

“I will never be able to forgive Pragya Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi,” Modi said.

But the damage had already been done. This is not the first time Pragya Thakur has shocked Indians with her statements. She had earlier said that 26/11 braveheart Hemant Karkare died because she cursed him. Her candidature itself has been a matter of contention, since she is a terror accused.

The fact that BJP MPs Anantkumar Hegde and Nalin Kumar Kateel tweeted in support of her statement and later deleted it, also does not look good on the BJP. Hegde later claimed that his account was hacked.

Tweeple discussed Pragya and her shocking remarks, BJP’s shaky stance on the issue and how an apology or condemnation is not enough.

‘Endorsing Pragya Is Endorsing Godse’

Twitter users said that BJP should withdraw her candidature. “If even now BJP doesn't disendorse Pragya Thakur then they are endorsing her support for terrorist Godse,” one Twitter user said,

Journalist Sreenivasan Jain said that the bar of expectation is set so low that barely anyone is expecting or demanding anything more than an apology. “In the normal course, under an earlier BJP, the comments by Pragya Thakur may have been a sackable offense,” he tweeted.

“Walk the talk and the withdraw the terror accused,” tweeted journalist Swati Chaturvedi.

Isn’t sacking her the obvious thing to do, asked Twitter users. “Instead BJP is acting as if it is vitally important to send her to Parliament,” one Twitter user said.

“Why just apologise, register FIR against Pragya Singh Thakur,” said another Twitter user.

‘Time To Act’

Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai said Modi’s remark about not forgiving Pragya is not good enough. “If she does become a BJP MP, will PM expel her from Party? And what of mantri @AnantkumarH who virtually justified the murder? Hand wringing over, time to act!”

Journalist Amey Tirodkar said Modi is trying to wash his hands off Pragya Thakur’s remarks.

Hegde ‘Hacked’?

Tweeple also questioned the claims of BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde that his Twitter account was hacked. Hegde had first tweeted in support of Pragya’s statement glorifying Godse and later deleted it.

“He managed to retrieve his account in a jiffy. Very swift indeed,” tweeted one Twitter user.

Alt News founder Pratik Sinha said a simple police investigation can find if Anantkumar Hegde’s pro-Godse tweets were put out after hacking his account as he claims. “ Are you interested in knowing whether the Union Minister is truthful or lying,” he asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

One Twitter user tweeted with earlier instances of BJP leaders claiming their accounts were hacked.