BJP disciplines Pragya Thakur, asserts Gandhi is party’s idol
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur, cannot attend the BJP Parliamentary Party meetings during the current session of Parliament, Working President JP Nadda announced on Thursday.
He also revealed that the saffron-clad MP, accused in the Malegaon blast case, has been removed from the Parliamentary panel on Defence.
“We have decided that Pragya Singh Thakur will be removed from the consultative committee of defence, and in this session she will not be allowed to participate in the parliamentary party meetings,” he said.
Nadda said the decision was taken by the party considering her outrageous statement that Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse was a patriot.
Addressing the media, Nadda also spoke about Thakur’s reported reference to Godse as a patriot and asserted that the party does not support such ideology and her statement in the parliament is “condemnable.”
“Her statement yesterday in the parliament is condemnable. BJP never supports such statement
We have decided that Pragya will be removed from the consultative panel of defence, and in this session she will not be allowed to participate in the parliamentary party meetings, says JP Nadda
or ideology,” he said.
Rajnath Singh also slammed Thakur for her remark and said that Mahatma Gandhi is idol for the country.
“If someone considers Nathuram Godse as a patriot, then our party condemns it. His ideology was not only relevant in the past, but remains so today and shall remain relevant in future.
“Irrespective of party, caste or religion, everyone considers Gandhi his/her ideal and a source of inspiration,” Singh said.
Thakur made the remarks on Wednesday during a debate on Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in Lok Sabha, when DMK member A. Raja was citing Godse’s statement on why he killed the Mahatma.
Thakur interrupted and made a remark praising Godse.
But after the party disciplined her on Thursday, she explained that she actually meant Udham Singh. “I was misquoted,” she tweeted. “I was referring to freedom fighter Udham Singh.
“Sometimes the tempest of lies is so deep that even days turn into nights. But the sun never loses its light. Do not be misled by this tempest, the light of the sun is stable. The truth is yesterday I could not bear the disrepect to Udham Singh ji, that’s all.”
Her remark had led to an immediate uproar in the House. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expunged her remarks from the House records but it did not help stop the barrage of criticism from political parties and on social media.
On Thursday morning the opposition in the Lok Sabha sought action against her. While Congress leader of the house Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary demanded a statement from the government, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi gave a privilege motion notice to Speaker Birla over the issue.
“Inside the house they say that the Congress is a terrorist party. The party whose thousands of workers and leaders have sacrificed for the freedom of the country is being called terrorist party. What is happening here?
“The murderer of Mahatma Gandhi is called a patriot. Will this house remain quiet?” Chowdhury said.
“The government should state this clearly whether it follows the path of Nathuram Godse or Mahatma Gandhi. You want to appropriate Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and now Mahatma Gandhi.
“The entire country and the world is criticising them today. The government must make a statement on this. They use Gandhi politically, but help his murderers. This is an outcome of your ideology.”
But Birla pointed out that since her statement was not on record, it couldn’t be discussed.
Thakur was named earlier this month to the consultative committee on defence headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The panel also includes opposition leaders Farooq Abdullah, TMC’S Sougata Roy, DMK’S A. Raja and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.
This was not the first time when Thakur made a controversial remark.
In the run to the national elections, Thakur had described Godse was a patriot. People consider him as a “deshbhakt,” she said.