Pragya Thakur to take on Digvijaya in Bhopal
BHOPAL: Pragya Thakur, one of the suspects in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case in Maharashtra, will take on Congress leader Digvijaya Singh as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in Bhopal. Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced her candidacy on Wednesday.
At the state BJP office where she met top state leaders of the party, Thakur straightaway launched an attack on her would-be electoral opponent.
“Digvijaya Singh had insulted the Sanatan dharma and saffron (Bhagwa) colour... i will tell people how I was tortured in the name of saffron terror,” she said, calling Singh a “weak candidate” as a man who “trod the path of Adharma” could never be strong.
Thakur joined the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) on Wednesday in the presence of senior leaders -national general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal, national vicepresidents Prabhat Jha and Chouhan, state BJP vice-president Vijesh Lunawat and general secretary (organisation) Suhash Bhagat.
Thakur’s candidacy in Bhopal was pushed by the BJP leadership in New Delhi as she is seen to represent hard Hindutva, party functionaries said on condition of anonymity.
“Sadhvi’s presence as a candidate will not only help the party in Bhopal but in other parts of the country. Her statements may help the party push its Hindutva agenda during the elections,” a senior BJP leader said.
A resident of Bhind district, Thakur was an accused in the Sunil Joshi murder case in Madhya Pradesh besides the Malegaon bomb blast in Maharashtra.
Joshi, an RSS worker, was shot dead in December 2007.