An IAS officer from Mumbai who had posted a controversial tweet about Mahatma Gandhi has been transferred after she faced immense backlash on social media.

Nidhi Choudhari, the IAS officer, has now been transferred from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to the Water and Sanitation Department.

The Maharashtra State Government has also sought an explanation from the IAS Officer over the derogatory tweet. A showcause notice has been issued to Nidhi Choudhari for the tweet, which she deleted soon after facing a wave of backlash on Twitter.

While she was earlier the Joint Municipal Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Choudhari has now been posted as Deputy Secretary, Water Supply and Sanitation Department.

Choudhari on May 17 tweeted: "What an exceptional celebration of the 150th birth anniversary year is going on. High time, we remove his face from our currency, his statues from across the world, rename institutions/roads named after him. That would be real tribute from all of us ThankU #Godse from 30.01.1948." A photo of Mahatma Gandhi's dead body was also posted along with the text."

I have deleted my tweet of 17.05.2019 w.r.t. GandhiJi because some people misunderstood it

If only they had followed my timeline since 2011 they would've understood that I would NEVER even dream of insulting GandhiJi

I bow before him with deepest regard & will do till last breath pic.twitter.com/CSjaKHF9BJ Nidhi Choudhari???????? (@nidhichoudhari) May 31, 2019

Soon the tweet became viral on social media and it did not go down well with most Indians. Nidhi was trolled heavily by netizens on social media and was equally criticised by several politicians in the country.

Many political parties including the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had demanded immediate suspension of the IAS officer after she had posted the tweet.

NCP legislator Jitendra Awhad said, "The IAS officer has insulted our father of nation Mahatma Gandhi ji. In fact, she has gone on to say thank you to Godse. This is not accepted at all."

On Sunday, even NCP chief Sharad Pawar wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding "exemplary action" against Nidhi Choudhary for the tweet.

While Nidhi tried to pass on her tweet as sarcastic and that it was never meant as an insult to Gandhi, none of her justifications were acceptable on social media.

On Friday, Nidhi wrote on Twitter: "I have deleted my tweet of 17.5.2019 w.r.t. Gandhi ji because some people misunderstood it. If only they had followed my timeline since 2011 they would've understood that I would never even dream of insulting Gandhi ji. I bow before him with the deepest regard and will do till last breath."