Congress said sedition case should be filed over the Nathuram Godse bust
After the right-wing group Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha on Wednesday installed a bust of Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse at its Gwalior office, the Congress has demanded that the group should be booked for sedition.
Hindu Mahasabha national vice president Jaiveer Bharadwaj, who installed a 32-inch-tall bust of Godse at the group's office in Gwalior's Daulatganj, said their request to the district administration on November 9 that they be allowed to build a temple to Godse, was denied.
He said with the bust installed now, a "temple" has been built. "Nobody should have any objection to this as we have set up the temple in our own space. It is Mahasabha's own property," Mr Bharadwaj said.
The Congress said a case of sedition should be filed against the right-wing group. "This is a conspiracy to disgrace the Father of the Nation... We demand that a case of sedition be filed against these people," leader of opposition in the state assembly Ajay Singh said.
Senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia also criticised the group. "A temple of Bapu's killer is being established just under the nose of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who pretended to be fasting using the name of Gandhiji. This is a shameful and condemnable act," Mr Scindia tweeted.
The BJP, however, said Congress should desist from claiming sole ownership of Mahatma Gandhi's legacy. "Mahatma Gandhi's legacy is the legacy of this country... If anybody has violated the law and the Constitution, such activity would come under the purview of law," state BJP spokesperson Rajnish Jain said.