An IAS officer from Mumbai has been facing massive backlash over her controversial tweet allegedly 'insulting' Mahatma Gandhi and thanking Nathuram Godse for assassinating him.

The IAS officer, Nidhi Choudhari, who is posted as a joint commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in a now deleted tweet from May 17 had said: "What an exceptional celebration of 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.

The tweet went viral and for obvious reasons, it did not go down well with most Indians. Nidhi started getting heavily trolled on social media and condemned by politicians.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has demanded immediate suspension of the IAS officer.

Demanding Nidhi's suspension, 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."

And on Sunday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding 'exemplary action' against Nidhi for her tweet on Mahatma Gandhi.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena have been silent on the issue.

The backlash not only made Nidhi delete the tweet but she also provided several explanations on social media saying it was a sarcastic tweet and her personal opinion.

In a series of tweets, she explained that she never meant to disrespect Gandhi and talked about how much she respects him.

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 deepest regard and will do till last breath.'

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

She went on to post several tweets about Mahatma Gandhi and the places she has visited to remember him.

Nidhi wrote on Facebook saying she has been following Gandhi since childhood and the tweet was written with a lot of pain.

She also informed that no action has been taken by the BMC against her till now.

However, sources from the department told India Today that they did not appreciate the way Nidhi, being a responsible citizen and an IAS officer, was making such controversial statements. They have asked her to refrain from making such public comments from now on.

The department will decide whether any action should be taken against her on Monday.