BJP Chief Amit Shah Reprimands Nalin Kateel, Ananth Hegde for Remarks on Godse
Mangaluru: On Friday, BJP Party President Amit Shah distanced himself and the BJP party from the controversial statements made by Uttara Kannada MP Ananth Kumar Hegde and Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel regarding Nathuram Godse – the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. Lok Sabha candidate for Madhya Pradesh – Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur was also reprimanded by Amit Shah for her controversial remarks.
Shah wrote on Twitter, “The statements made by Pragya Thakur, Ananth Hegde and Nalin Kateel in the last two days are their own statements. The BJP has no relation with their statements. However, they have retracted their statements and also apologized. The BJP has taken a decision to send their statements to the disciplinary committee of the party. The committee will submit a report within 10 days to the BJP after receiving the replies of the three leaders over their statements that are against the ideology of the party.”
The controversy was sparked by Pragya Thakur when she called Nathuram Godse a true “deshbhakt” or patriot. Thakur herself has been accused of terror for her role in the Malegaon blasts in 2006 and is currently out on bail. She is contesting for the Parliamentary seat in Madhya Pradesh against Congress leader Digvijay Singh.
On Thursday, Ananth Kumar Hegde and Nalin Kateel had expressed solidarity with Thakur’s remarks. Ananth Hegde had tweeted, “Am glad that 7 decades later today’s generation debates in a changed perceptional environment and gives good scope for the condemned to be heard upon. #NathuramGodse would have finally felt happy with this debate!”
Meanwhile, Nalin Kateel attempted to compare Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with Nathuram Godse and LeT terrorist Ajmal Kasab. However, after facing severe backlash, both parliamentarians retracted their statements and subsequently apologized.
