Differences have cropped up within the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha over the organisation's purported plan to erect Nathuram Godse's statue in the capital.
Claiming to be the national president of the Hindu Mahasabha, Swami Chakrapani Maharaj said: "The organisation has never demanded any such thing as erection of the statue of a person who was a culprit. Godse killed Gandhi. The construction of his statue is not right."
"It is a politically motivated agenda raised by some people who are neither part of the organisation nor its members," he said.
Chandra Prakash Kaushik, another Hindu Mahasabha leader who also claims to be the organisation's national president, however, said the organisation will continue with plans of statue erection.
Kaushik, in a letter to the government, had demanded that statues of Godse be erected at public places all over New Delhi, including Mandir Marg area.
He told IANS: "Swami Chakrapani's claims are wrong. I have the papers which could prove that I am the president of this organisation. And we continue to demand statue's erection in the capital."
Swami Chakrapani, meanwhile, told the media at Hindu Mahasabha Bhawan in central Delhi: "Chandra Prakash Kaushik is not the member of our organisation. His statement that organisation wants erection of Godse's statue in the city is wrong. If it happens, people will start demanding the building of statue of others like Bhindranwale".
Recently, BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj had courted controversy after praising Godse. He had, however, retracted his comments.
