Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha on Wednesday unveiled a life-size bust of Mahatma Gandhi’s killer, Nathuram Godse, in its office in Gwalior, in Madhya Pradesh, and vowed to build a temple for him.
The development has triggered an outrage in the state with the Opposition Congress demanding sedition charges against the outfit for this.
The Mahasabha “laid the foundation for building the temple” for Godse on the occasion of his death anniversary on Wednesday. Nathuram Vinayak Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi by pumping three bullets in his chest in New Delhi on January 30, 1948, was hanged on November 15, 1949.
“Nathuram Godse is a patriot. We have decided to build a temple for him in the Hindu Mahasabha Bhavan in the district headquarters town of Gwalior after the local administration turned down our demand for allocation of land at another area for the purpose. We unveiled Godse’s statue at the office on Wednesday to begin the process of building a temple for him,” the Mahasabha spokesman Dr Jagdish Bhardwaj told reporters.
“Nathuram Godse had taken arms training for three days in Gwalior before shooting to death Mahatma Gandhi. Hence, Gwalior holds much significance for us. That is why we have decided to build Nathuram Godse’s first temple in Gwalior,” he said.
The development caused acute embarrassment to the BJP government in the state. “I have sought a report from the local administration on it”, state home minister Bhupendra Singh said.
Congress Legislature Party leader, Ajey Singh, however demanded to slap charges of sedition against the outfit for “laying foundation” to build a temple for Mahatma Gandhi’s killer.
