Tollywood actor Konidela Naga Babu triggered a row on Tuesday after he wrote a tweet remembering Nathuram Godse on Twitter. The comment was criticised by several social media users as well as Congress leaders on Wednesday.
Speaking to the media, senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao said, "Naga Babu was not aware of Nathuram Godse all the while he was in the film industry. Now, after coming into politics, he came to know about Nathruam Godse. Saying that the person who killed Mahatma Gandhi is a patriot is not fair. It seems he is just implementing the RSS ideology. It's not fair to hurt the sentiments of people. He has hurt every Indian with such comments."
On Tuesday, K Naga Babu, who is the brother of actor Chiranjeevi and actor-politician Pawan Kalyan, tweeted that it's Nathuram Godse's birthday and added that he had been a true patriot. Naga Babu is affiliated to Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena party. He contested from the Narsapur constituency in the 2019 General Elections, but lost. As of now, the Jana Sena party is in alliance with the BJP.
"Whether it's correct or not to kill Gandhi is debatable. But Godse's version was never told in the media of those days. The media was working under the government, it's applicable even for today's media houses to some extent," he claimed in Telugu.
He further tweeted: "Though Godse knew that he would be humiliated after killing Gandhi, he still did it. However he was also a great patriot and that cannot be questioned. On the occasion of his birthday, I wanted to remember him. May his soul rest in peace."
ఆపఖ్యాతి పాలౌతానని తెలిసినా తను అనుకున్నది చేసాడు.కానీ నాధురాం దేశభక్తి ని శంకించలేము.ఆయన ఒక నిజమైన దేశభక్తుడు.ఆయన పుట్టిన రోజు సందర్భంగా ఆయనని ఒక సారి గుర్తుచేసుకోవలనిపించింది.పాపం నాధురాం గాడ్సే...మే హిస్ సోల్ రెస్ట్ ఇన్ పీస్.
— Naga Babu Konidela (@NagaBabuOffl) May 19, 2020
In response to the controversy, Congress leader Vijayashanti tweeted, "Though religions and castes are different, God is one, no matter how many generations go by, Father of the Nation is one. For 130 crore Indians, Mahatma is the one. . . even if Godse was alive, he would have asked only one thing on his birthday, 'Forgive me, Mahatma'. "
కుల, మతాలు వేరైనా దైవం ఒక్కటే.. ఎన్ని తరాలైనా జాతిపితా ఒక్కడే... 130 కోట్ల మంది భారతీయులకు మహత్ముడు ఒక్కడే...
— VijayashanthiOfficial (@vijayashanthi_m) May 19, 2020
ఈశ్వర్, అల్లా... తేరానామ్... సబ్ కో సన్మతి దే భగవాన్
''నాకు కూడా''...
''అని''
గాడ్సే, ఇప్పుడు బ్రతికుంటే... ఈ జన్మదినం నాడు ఇదే ప్రార్ధించేవాడు.
మన్నించండి మహత్మా pic.twitter.com/RD1ziaIlrt
After the outrage, Naga Babu tweeted, "Please do understand, it was not my intention to support the crime that Nathuram Godse did. I just said that Nathuram's version could also have been told to the people. I have immense respect for Mahatma Gandhi, I know about Mahatma Gandhi better than the people who are criticising me right now."
దయచేసి అందరూ నన్ను అర్థం చేసుకోండి. నేను నాధురాం గురించి ఇచ్చిన ట్వీట్ లో నాధురాం చేసిన నేరాన్ని సమర్ధించలేదు.నాధురాం వెర్షన్ కూడా జనానికి తెలియాలి అని మాత్రమే అన్నాను.నాకు మహాత్మ గాంధీ అంటే నాకు చాలా గౌరవం.ఇన్ఫాక్ట్ నన్ను విమర్శించే వల్లకన్నా నాకు ఆయనంటే చాలా గౌరవం.
— Naga Babu Konidela (@NagaBabuOffl) May 19, 2020
While some social media users criticised Naga Babu for his tweets on Godse, others said that he was doing so because he is affiliated to the BJP and added sarcastically that if Naga Babu had been in the CPI or CPI(M), he would have appreciated Che Guevera.