Rahul Gandhi: BJP, RSS are not 'God-Ke Lovers' but 'God-Se Lovers'

Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday took a swipe at the BJP over its leaders making controversial remarks on Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, saying the BJP and the RSS are not "God-ke Lovers" but "God-se Lovers".

As campaigning for the 2019 general elections wound down on Friday, the BJP was pushed into a corner and forced to ask three of its leaders to explain their comments on Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, as the Congress questioned the prime minister's silence on the row.

The Pandora's box opened on Thursday with BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate and Malegaon blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur lauding Godse as a "patriot" and issuing an apology hours later, saying she respected Gandhi and his work for the country cannot be forgotten.

"I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS... Are not God-Ke Lovers. They are God-Se Lovers," Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

As the row over Thakur's remarks escalated, BJP's MP from Karnataka Nalin Kumar Kateel compared Godse with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is crueler in this??" Kateel tweeted on Thursday, equating Godse, 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab and Rajiv Gandhi.

Union minister Anantkumar Hegde also found himself in the news with a purported tweet justifying Godse's action. However, later the minister claimed his account was hacked.

Campaigning for India's seven-phase elections ends on Friday evening. The last day of polling is May 19 and the votes will be counted on May 23.

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Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from Agencies