Congress Workers Vandalise Statue of Mahatma Gandhi's Assassin in Gujarat, India

On Monday, Hindu Mahasabha, a party which for decades has been violently at odds with Congress and opposed Gandhian attempts to drive the British out of India, marked the anniversary of the death of Nathuram Godse - Gandhi's assassin - and said it will make a statue of him with soil brought from Ambala Central Jail, where Godse was hanged in 1949.

A statue of Nathuram Godse who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised by Congress politician, Digubha Jadeja, and his party associates on Tuesday in India's Gujarat state.

According to media reports, Jadeja reached the site in the city of Jamnagar in Gujarat and demolished the statue, which was installed by an organisation called Hindu Sena.

After demolishing the statue, the Congress workers wrapped a saffron strap around it, according to reports on Indian news channel, India Today.

In August this year, Hindu Sena announced its intention to erect a statue of Godse in one of the districts of Jamnagar. However, after local authorities refused to allocate space, the group put the statue up on Monday on the anniversary of Godse's death at Hanuman Ashram which is in Jamnagar.

Godse assassinated India's freedom icon, Mahatma Gandhi, by shooting him in the chest three times at point-blank range in New Delhi on 30 January 1948.

Godse was a member of Bhartiya Janata Party's (BJP) parent organisation, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), when he assassinated Gandhi.

After the BJP came to power in 2014, efforts were made by several Hindu outfits - especially Hindu Mahasabha and BJP politicians - to portray the assassin as a patriot and martyr. Godse reportedly held Gandhi responsible for the partition of India, and right up to his death, maintained that Gandhi had deserved to die.

Later, he became an icon of "Hindu Communalism" and his supporters which include outfits such as Hindu Mahasabha, who honour him for his actions.