Thiruvananthapuram | The Congress in Kerala on Saturday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent remarks about Mahatma Gandhi as "highly condemnable" and said it amounted to disrespecting the 'Father of the Nation'.

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala demanded that Modi withdraw his statement and apologise to the people.

The Prime Minister, in a recent interview to a TV channel, had said that the "world did not know of Mahatma Gandhi till the film 'Gandhi' was made".

Chennithala, also the former Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, claimed that disrespect towards Gandhi is going on in the country.

"Narendra Modi's statement about Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, is highly condemnable. Was Gandhi recognised world over only after the film 'Gandhi' was made? "Anywhere in the world you go, you will find a statue of Gandhi or a road named after him. No one else in the world has so many monuments dedicated to him except for Mahatma Gandhi. What he said is actually disrespect towards Gandhi. Modi should withdraw it and apologise to the people," the Congress leader said.

Chennithala alleged that what can be understood from the PM's statement was that he is still "in the grip of (Nathuram) Godse's ghost".

"Narendra Modi, who is travelling on the path of Godse, will not only make such statements, but much worse than that," he alleged and asked, "Is the BJP ready to stop disrespecting Gandhi?" Modi in a TV interview to a TV channel had said, "...Across the world, Mahatma Gandhi was a great person. Was it not our responsibility in these 75 years to ensure that the entire world knows Mahatma Gandhi. I am sorry to say that no one knows about him.

"The first time when the film 'Gandhi' was made, it was then that there was curiosity across the world as to who this person was. We have not done so... ."