In a statement that sparked off a political issue in Maharashtra, Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, said that India has two "rashtra pita" - Mahatma Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The BJP leadership, however, has not commented on the issue.
"We have two ‘rashtra pita'. Narendra Modi is 'rashtra pita' of new India, while Mahatma Gandhi was ‘rashtra pita’ of earlier times,” Amruta said during a ‘mock court interview’ in Nagpur.
Amruta is a banker by profession and a singer and activist.
It may be mentioned, in a tweet on September 17, 2019, the birthday of Modi, Amruta had tweeted: "Wishing the Father of our Country Narendra Modi ji a very Happy Birthday — who inspires us to work relentlessly towards the betterment of the society.”
During the interview when she was reminded of the earlier statement, Amruta spoke about it again. “This is my firm opinion,” she added after making the statement.
The statement has come at a time when Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari is at the receiving end for his comments on Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and social reformer couple - Savatribai Phule and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule.
Besides, three ministers of the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government - Chandrakant Patil, Abdul Sattar and Mangalprabhat Lodha - too faced flak for their recent comments in public, including insults to icons.
State Congress president Nana Patole said: “We will not comment on it… people are called ‘mahatma’ and ‘mahapurush’ because of their contribution…but some people consider themselves to be of their level and pat their own back.”
Reacting to the statement, former Women and Child Development Minister and Congress MLA Yashomati Thakur said: “We all know that Nathuram Godse shot dead Mahatma Gandhi….(now) people of RSS-BJP are trying to kill Gandhi ji again and again…they are obsessed about changing history….how can a person have two fathers.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson and farmers' leader Kishor Tiwari said: "She is free to glorify Modi but she has no business to compare him to Mahatma Gandhi." He also wanted to know whether she harbours ambitions to become the Chief Minister.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and MLC Manisha Kayande said: "It's yet another ploy to erase history of Gandhiji, currency notes and so on."