Cong wants Rae Bareli MLA disqualified for defying whipPragya out of defence panel

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Nathuram Godse on why he killed Mahatma Gandhi. Pragya interrupted and said, “You cannot give example of a ‘deshbhakt’ (patriot).” As the Opposition raised the ante against the government in the Lok Sabha today, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said his party condemned any philosophy that described Gandhi’s killer a patriot.

Speaker Om Birla also tried to pacify the agitating Opposition members, saying he had already expunged the remarks. However, targeting the government, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Opposition parties alleged that “inaction” against her proved his latent support to “Godse’s sinister thought”.

Calling her remarks a “perfect representation” of the BJP’s “deplorable hate politics”, they walked out in protest.

The Congress and other UPA members, meanwhile, signed a notice for the censure motion against Pragya and submitted it to the Speaker. The motion sought an apology from Pragya or her withdrawal from the House until she regretted what she said during the debate. “Such remarks scandalise the dignity of the House and deserve our severest censure,” read the motion.

During the Lok Sabha election campaign, Thakur had described Godse a “patriot”, triggering a huge political storm and forcing PM Modi to admit publicly: “I will never be able to forgive Pragya Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi.” Later, she had apologised for her statement. — TNS