Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Thakur to contest against Digvijay Singh from Bhopal
NEW DELHI : Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, will contest as the BJP candidate from Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, where former chief minister Digvijaya Singh is the Congress candidate.
Sadhvi Pragya is out on bail in the case, in which she was cleared under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) but faces other charges.The BJP on Wednesday fielded Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, facing trial in Malegaon blast case, in Lok Sabha elections from Bhopal seat, where she is set to have a direct contest with Congress heavyweight and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh.
“After spending 10 years in jail due to Congress conspiracy, I have come here to fight the political and religious war,” she said. Thakur is among the seven accused facing trial in the Malegaon blast case, wherein six people were killed and a dozen others were injured when a bomb placed on a motorcycle exploded in Maharashtra’s Malegaon on September 29, 2008.
Thakur, who is out on bail, had joined the BJP only hours before her name was announced as its candidate, underscoring the saffron party’s attempt to bring the Hindutva plank at the centre stage of polls in the high profile constituency, which has been its bastion for many elections.
An NIA court had dropped charges against her under the stringent MCOCA but she and other co-accused are still facing other charges in the Malegaon case. Among other candidates, K P Yadav will be the BJP nominee from Guna, which is held by senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia who is contesting again from here.
“I will definitely win,” Sadhvi Pragya, dressed in saffron silk robes, said at the BJP office in Bhopal. “Anyone talking about bhagwa (saffron) and terror or Hindutva and terror, be warned. Anyone talking against the country be warned. I pledge to restore dignity to saffron,” she said, to chants of “Jai Shri Ram”.
Sadhvi Pragya, along with Lt Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit, came to represent what the Congress-led UPA government termed as “saffron terror” after they were both charged in the Malegaon blasts. On September 29, 2008, two bombs fitted on a motorcycle exploded, killing seven people and injuring over 100 in Malegaon in Maharashtra, around 270 km from Mumbai. They are both out on bail in the case.
“We all will fight together with all those who are conspiring against the nation and defeat them,” said Sadhvi Pragya, alleging a conspiracy to frame her. Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, a controversial figure known for incendiary comments and speeches, had been associated with the BJP-linked youth outfit Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and ‘Durga Vahini’ or women’s wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
The BJP has named Raj Bahadur Singh and Ramakant Bhargav as its nominees from Sagar and Vidisha respectively. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had won from Vidisha in 2014 but she had announced that she will not fight polls this time due to health reasons.Though the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court dropped charges under MCOCA against her, she is being tried under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
A third person associated with the term “Hindu terror”, Swami Aseemanand, was acquitted in March by an anti-terror court in the 2007 bombing of the Samjhauta Express that left nearly 70 people dead. After that, top BJP leaders attacked the use of the term by the Congress. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a rally in Maharashtra that the Congress had branded “peace-loving Hindus” as terrorists and knew it would be punished by voters.
Significantly, Digvijaya Singh was among the Congress leaders who were most vocal in condemning “saffron terror”. “I welcome Sadhvi Pragya to Bhopal. I hope you will like the peaceful, educated and decent environment in this city. I pray to mother Narmada for her and pray that we all can be on the path of truth, non-violence and religion.”
The BJP has never lost in Bhopal since 1989, though it has a sizeable Muslim population. Digvijaya Singh was asked by his party colleague, Chief Minister Kamal Nath, to contest from tough seats like Bhopal or Indore, where the Congress hasn’t won in years. Challenge accepted, was Digvijaya Singh’s response, and he was named for Bhopal.
Earlier on Wednesday, Sadhvi Pragya, a Hindu hardliner, met with senior BJP leaders including Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Ramlal, Anil Jain, Narottam Mishra, and Prabhat Jha at the state party headquarters here. After the meeting, Sadhvi Pragya said, “We will unitedly fight against the people who are conspiring against the nation. We will win this ‘Dharm Yuddh’ (crusade).” With Agency Inputs ).
