BJP MP Pragya Thakur on Wednesday referred to Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a 'deshbhakt' (patriot) during a debate in Lok Sabha, triggering a protest by Opposition members.

When DMK member A. Raja cited a statement of Godse on why he killed Mahatma Gandhi during a discussion on the Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill, Thakur interrupted and said, 'You cannot give example of a deshbhakt.'

Raja said that Godse himself admitted that he had nursed a grudge against Gandhi for 32 years before finally deciding to assassinate him.

Godse, Raja said, killed Gandhi because he believed in a particular philosophy.

While the Opposition members protested the interruption by Thakur, the BJP members persuaded her to sit down.

Security should be based on threat perception and not because of political reasons, Raja said and asked the Home Minister to revisit the Bill which seeks to withdraw SGP cover from persons other than Prime Minister.