Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra launched an indirect attack against BJP's Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur over her 'Nathuram Godse is a patriot' remark. Mahindra expressed his anger on Twitter and wrote 'Mahatma Gandhi must remain sacred as he served as a beacon to billions when the world lost its morality'. He further added, 'We used to be pitied for being poor but we were always rich since Bapu inspired billions globally.'
"Some things must remain sacred. Or we become the Taliban, destroying statues that sustain us," Mahindra wrote in his tweet.
On Thursday, Pragya Thakur in a road show in Agar Malwa region, said "Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt (patriot), he is and will remain a deshbhakt. Those calling him a terrorist should instead look at themselves".
She was replying to a question over actor-politician Kamal Haasan's remark that independent India's first 'extremist was a Hindu', a reference to Godse.
Her remarks created a major row with the Congress demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The BJP immediately distanced itself from her statement, and asked Pragya to tender a public apology.
Later, she tendered an apology on Thursday night and said she respected Mahatma Gandhi as his work for the country cannot be forgotten.
'My sentiment was not to hurt anyone's feelings. If it has hurt anybody's feelings then I apologise. What Gandhiji has done for the country cannot be forgotten. I respect him a lot,' she said in a video statement.
Thakur said her remark was on the spur of moment to a question linked to 'saffron terror' and claimed that the media twisted her statement.
(With PTI inputs)