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".

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 more cruel 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.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)