Coming out all guns blazing at the BJP-led Centre during a debate in the Lok Sabha on a resolution on the opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said he has the highest respect for the deity but ‘hates’ Nathuram Godse, the assailant who fatally shot Mahatma Gandhi.

Bristling at the ruling BJP during the discussion on the Ram Temple in the Lower House, the AIMIM MP said, “I have the highest respect for Lord Ram but hate Nathuram Godse because he killed the person whose last words were ‘Hey Ram’.” Taking the attack to the ruling party at the Centre a notch higher, Owaisi demanded that the BJP come out with a clarification on whether the government has a ‘religion of its own’.