‘We believe in forgiving, forgetting’: MP Cong on induction of ‘Godse supporter’

A key charge that the Congress has made about the BJP and Sangh Parivar groups has been their alleged ambivalence on Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.

But since Wednesday, the Congress unit in Madhya Pradesh has been lampooned for welcoming into the party a person who was purportedly a supporter of Godse.

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and current state unit chief Kamal Nath on Wednesday welcomed into the party Babulal Chaurasia, a former Hindu Mahasabha leader, at the party headquarters in Bhopal. Chaurasia had been a municipal councillor of the Hindu Mahasabha.

Chaurasia told mediapersons that he had been associated with the Congress and his induction was "like returning to the family".

When asked about his participation in events that glorified Godse, Chaurasia told New Indian Express "I didn't know at that time what it was all about. I was pushed to the forefront of such events" and added he had not been associated with the Hindu Mahasabha for last two years.

The New Indian Express noted, "There have been news reports and pictures of him present at almost all such events conducted by the Hindu Mahasabha. Be it the Hutatma Nathuram Godse Temple in 2016 or taking the pledge to forward Godse's last court statement to one lakh people on the 70th anniversary of the assassin's hanging in 2019, Chaurasia can be seen in all these events. During the 2017 event at the Daulatganj (Gwalior) Hindu Mahasabha office, Chaurasia was among those leaders who had, reportedly, performed special prayers of Godse's statue."

BJP state secretary Rajneesh Agrawal took a jibe at the Congress, noting "A month back Kamal Nath had asked CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan whether he was with Mahatma Gandhi or Nathuram Godse. Now the same questions need to be replied to by Nath himself. Congress is running short of workers, so it's ready to include anyone in its ranks for the politics of vote ahead of urban local body polls," The New Indian Express reported.

However, a Congress leader rejected criticism of the party over the induction of Chaurasia. Gwalior Congress MLA Praveen Pathak claimed the Congress believed in "forgiving and forgetting". "Chaurasia was an active member of the Congress. He decided to return to the party... we welcomed him because our party leaders are like Rahul Gandhi, who has even forgiven the murderer of his father, to give them a chance," Pathak was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

“They (Gandhi family) are so large-hearted, it's because of their values that a person worshipping Godse started worshipping Gandhiji," Pathak told NDTV.