The Congress on Monday lashed out at former Calcutta high court judge and now Bharatiya Janata Party’s Lok Sabha election candidate Abhijit Gangopadhyay over his recent remark on Mahatma Gandhi and Nathuram Godse.

“It is worse than pathetic that a judge of the Calcutta High Court, who resigned to contest the Lok Sabha polls as a BJP candidate blessed by none other than the Prime Minister, now says that he cannot choose between Gandhi and Godse. This is totally unacceptable and his candidature should be withdrawn forthwith by those who spare no effort to appropriate the Mahatma’s legacy,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in an X post.

“What will the Father of the Do-nation do to protect the Father of the Nation?” Ramesh added.

Gangopadhyay who has been named as the BJP candidate days after resigning as Calcutta high court judge, recently told a Bengali channel that he cannot ‘choose between Gandhi and Godse’.

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“As someone from the legal profession, I must try and understand the other side of the story. I must read his (Nathuram Godse) writings and understand what triggered him to kill Mahatma Gandhi. Until then, I cannot choose between Gandhi and Godse,” Gangopadhyay, who is contesting against Trinamool Congress candidate Debangshu Bhattacharya in Tamluk, was quoted by India Today as saying in an interview to Aajtak Bangla.

The jurist-turned-politician said he must read the book written by Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse, elaborating the reasons that provoked him to assassinate the Father of the Nation.

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“I must read that book to understand what inspired Godse to kill Gandhi,” Gangopadhyay had said.

Gangopadhyay stoked controversy last April when he discussed a ‘school jobs for cash scam’ case in an interview to a TV channel. His comments, particularly on TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s alleged involvement, drew criticisim from the Supreme Court. The top court had said that judges should refrain from giving media interviews.