PM Modi voices annoyance over Godse remark; RSS asked to rein in pro-Hindu leaders

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is learnt to have voiced his annoyance over comments made by party MP Sakshi Maharaj, who had described Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a “patriot”.

Later, on the floor of the Lok Sabha, parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu condemned these remarks, saying: “Nobody can approve of it”. As an united Opposition was up in arms to protest against such comments, Sakshi Maharaj said he regretted the remarks and withdrew it.

Sources said that after the PM’s strong displeasure, the BJP urged the RSS to ensure that pro-Hindu leaders linked to the Sangh Parivar were reined in, and dissuaded from using such language.