Bengaluru: Belur Gopalakrishna, a senior Congress leader from Karnataka is seen inciting and urging people to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a video that emerged today, the leader is seen making such incendiary remarks in a Congress-related event a month ago.

The Congress leader has said, "These days people are talking about Nathuram Godse, who killed Gandhiji. Those people should not exist in this society, if they are trying kill the democratic setup. If they have the guts, let them kill PM Modi."

These provocative reactions came in the wake of a lady Pooja Pandey, secretary of Hindu Mahasabha holding a gun to the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. The leader challenges the ilk of Pooja Pandey to press the trigger against Narendra Modi.

The BJP has taken the issue seriously and tweeted its complaint to the Bengaluru police commissioner and Union Home Ministry.

“Belur Gopalakrishna, a Congress leader in a official party function calls for assassination of democratically elected PM Sri @narendramodi ji. Instigating for assassination of PM of a country is a nation threat & we urge @HMOIndia, @CPBlr to impose legal action immediately (SIC),” Karnataka BJP unit said in the tweet.

Meanwhile, the Congress has questioned why the BJP is raking this issue now. Congress MP from Karnataka VS Ugrappa said that Gopalakrishna said this in an individual capacity and that the party distances itself from the statement made.

MyNation contacted Gopalakrishna, who said, "Is it okay for someone to point a gun to the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi? And can they do that to PM Modi? This has been taken completely out of context by the BJP. I did not say 'kill Modi'. I asked if you will point the gun to him."

Whether or not the Congress high command stands by Gopalakrishna, the Congress leader said that this was a personal opinion and is will to fight it legally. "People have the right to file a complaint in a democratic setup. Let's see where this goes," he said.

This is not the first time that there's been a call to assassinate PM Modi. Delhi police commissioner Amulya Patnaik had allegedly received an e-mail in October last year. The mail, reportedly from Northeasters state, said that PM Modi would be assassinated in November 2018.