After Pragya Singh Thakur stirred a row for calling Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a "true patriot", Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday challenged "nationalistic luminaries of the BJP" to spell out their stand stating that merely distancing from her is "not enough".
Priyanka also posted "Hey Ram" on her Twitter account in reaction to the whole controversy, invoking Mahatma Gandhi's last words when he was shot dead by Godse in 1948.
"Bapu's murderer a patriot? Hey Ram! Distancing yourself from your candidate is not enough. Nationalistic luminaries of the BJP, have the guts to spell out your stand," Priyanka Gandhi wrote on her Twitter handle.
BJP has strongly backed Thakur's candidature in Bhopal in the face of tremendous criticism over fielding a Malegaon blast terror accused in the elections.
Earlier in the day, when questioned about actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's remark that India's first terrorist was a Hindu (in reference to Godse), Thakur said, "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt', is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'."
The Opposition parties attacked Thakur saying what she said reflected the mindset of the people nurtured in RSS ideology.
As BJP's Bhopal candidate comments caused a huge embarrassment to her party, BJP scrambled without much delay to control the damage caused by her.
Party spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao issued a statement saying the party condemns the statement of Thakur and said she should apologize publicly for terming Gandhi's assassin Godse a 'true patriot'.
"We completely disagree with the statement made by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur about the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi ji. We strongly condemn this particular statement. The party will ask her for clarification. She should apologize publicly for this statement," BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao told media here.
Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, is not new to courting controversies. After being fielded by the BJP in Bhopal, she had said Hemant Karkare, who was killed during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, died because she had cursed him. The statement had attracted all-round criticism including from the BJP which disowned it.