Congress demands apology on Godse remarks; Pragya Thakur says 'sorry'

New Delhi: Under fire for her "Nathuram-Godse-is-a-patriot" remark, BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha seat candidate Pragya Singh Thakur tendered an apology on Thursday night and said she respected Mahatma Gandhi as his work for the country cannot be forgotten.

"My sentiment was not to hurt anyone's feelings. If it has hurt anybody's feelings then I apologise. What Gandhi ji has done for the country cannot be forgotten. I respect him a lot," she said in a video statement.

She said she made the comments on the spur of moment to a question linked to "saffron terror" and claimed that the media twisted them.

Asked about the BJP terming her remarks as her personal views, she agreed and added that she was a disciplined worker of the party.

Earlier in the day, the Congress demanded an unconditional apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and punitive action against Pragya Singh Thakur, including withdrawal of her candidature from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, over her remarks.

In a stinging attack, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that "insulting martyrs is in the BJP DNA" and the "soul of the nation" has been hurt with Thakur's remarks who has "now crossed all limits".

"It is clear, the BJP people are the descendants of Godse. BJP people say Godse was a patriot and martyr Hemant Karkare was a traitor. Culture of violence and insulting martyrs is the DNA of the BJP," he told reporters.

"India's soul is again under attack by the successors of Godse, the current ruling BJP dispensation. BJP leaders are describing the murderer of 'Father of the Nation' Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, as a true nationalist while declaring those who sacrificed their life for the nation like Hemant Karkare as anti-national," he said.

The BJP, through its leaders, is repeatedly launching "malicious attacks" on the Father of the Nation's thinking, path and ideology, Surjewala alleged.

"This is a conspiracy to insult Gandhian principles. This is an unforgivable crime which the country will not forgive," he said.

"The simple question is, when Prime Minister abuses the first Prime Minister of India, is he carrying forward the same culture. We call upon the Prime Minister to tender an unconditional apology to the nation and take punitive action against Pragya Thakur.

"Otherwise, it will be more than proved that all such acts of denigrating the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi by the ilk of Pragya Thakur has the active concurrence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its leadership," he said.

Surjewala said Pragya's remarks are an "insult to the Indian way of life and to the Gandhina culture" and PM Modi and Amit Shah must come forward and punish Pragya Thakur, withdraw her candidature as also apologize to the nation.

He said that only recently Pragya Thakur describes the 26/11 Mumbai terror martyr Hemant Karkare as "anti-national" and chose phrases about his family that are unacceptable in our civil society.

"This is an insult to the Indian way of life the Gandhian way of life that lives in India's soul, that lives in the very ethos that India espouses. This is an unpardonable sin The truth is that insulting India's martyr and denigrating them has become the culture of BJP," he alleged.

Malegaon blast accused Thakur kicked up a row after she called Mahatma Gandhi's assassin a "patriot".