As campaigning for the 2019 general elections wound down on Friday, the BJP was pushed into a corner and forced to ask three of its leaders to explain their comments on Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, as the Congress questioned the prime minister's silence on the row.
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 at night saying she respected him and his work for the country cannot be forgotten.
As controversy raged on the last day of campaigning, BJP president Amit Shah said the party has taken serious note of the statements from Union minister Anantkumar Hegde, Pragya Thakur and its Karnataka MP Nalin Kumar Kateel.
Stating that the comments were against the party's ideology, Shah asked the party's disciplinary committee to submit a report on the issue in 10 days for further action.
"They have withdrawn their statements and also apologised. However, their remarks are against the decorum of public life and the BJP and also against the party's ideology. Taking serious note of their remarks, the party has decided to send them to the disciplinary committee," Shah said on Twitter.
The party went into damage control, sensing the comments by the three could hurt the party's image and its poll prospects in the last 59 seats that vote on Sunday. Over the last year or so, the BJP has been promoting itself as a torchbearer of Gandhi's ideals and legacy, which has long been the Congress domain.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on Pragya's remarks and said he can only pray for the country.
In a tweet, Sibal said, "When Sadhvi Pragya says: 'Godse a Deshbakht' and Modi is silent with Vidyasagar's statue a victim of the violent I can only pray for my country and hope that one day the silent majority will keep violence at bay."
As the row over Thakur's remarks escalated, BJP's MP from Karnataka Nalin Kumar Kateel compared Godse with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi
"My Twitter account has been breached twice in the past one week and certain tweets have been posted on my timeline which has been discarded and deleted. Regret the posts attributed to me."