New Delhi: Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde found himself in the middle of the ongoing row over Nathuram Godse, when he 'tweeted' that Mahatma Gandhi assassin would have 'felt happy with the debate', only to later delete the post.
Amid the ongoing row over BJP candidate Pragya Singh's controversial comment on Gose, Hegde today turned heads as he tweeted a rather contentious remark on the row.
Screenshot showing Hegde's deleted tweet "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!" Hegde tweeted.
The tweet was although deleted by Hegde shortly after being posted. He said his account has been 'breached' twice in the past week, poiting towards the explanation that his account was hacked to post the controversial statement.
"My Twitter account has been breached twice in the past one week and certain tweets have been posted on my timeline which has been discarded and deleted. Regret the posts attributed to me," he said.
Reiterating that there was 'no question' of justifying Gandhi's assassination, he added, "My account was hacked since yesterday. There is no question of justifying Gandhi ji's murder. There can be no sympathy or justification of Gandhi ji's murder. We all have full respect for Gandhi ji's contribution to the nation."
Earlier on May 16, when questioned about actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's remark that India's first terrorist was a Hindu (in reference to Godse), Pragya had said, "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt', is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'."
The BJP candidate from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat had claimed that comments like these by Haasan would dent his electoral prospects. "People calling him a terrorist should instead look within, such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections," she had said.
The party however strongly condemned the statement and said she should apologise publicly for terming Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a 'true patriot'.
