Former Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Nirupam on Friday said he is severing all ties with Hindutva, an ideology he professed and practiced for years as a Sainik.
Nirupam, who also edited eveninger Dopahar ka Saamna in Mumbai, said he made a mistake in not standing up to the rights of the north Indians settlers in the megapolis.
He was speaking to Karan Thapar on CNBC's 'Tonight at Ten'.
Nirupam was a member of Shiv Sena when Shiv Sainiks thrashed young boys arriving in Mumbai from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country to appear for a railway recruitment exam.
Doing a volte-face on his views on Muslims and Congress president Sonia Gandhi's foreign origins, Nirupam said Hindutva has no place in the country's secular traditions.
On Sonia, he said her foreign origins do not matter and that the verdict of the people in a democracy is supreme.
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Asked if he is on the verge of joining the Congress, he merely said the party he will join will be "secular".
Nirupam, who had once advocated sending suicide bombers to Pakistan, also supported the government's efforts to normalise relations with Pakistan.
"If I meet [Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf during his coming visit to India], I will tell him, 'It is a good thing you came.' Relationship between our countries should improve," Nirupam said.
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