"If Any Word Hurt PM...": Pragya Thakur After BJP Denies Her Poll Pass
NDTV
Pragya Thakur was elected to Lok Sabha from Bhopal in the 2019 general election. She has been dropped as candidate this time.
Days after BJP replaced Pragya Singh Thakur as its candidate from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, the firebrand leader has said she had apologised to Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after her controversial remark about Nathuram Godse in 2019. She added that she has never asked for a ticket to contest polls and would do whatever the party asks here to.
Ms Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, was elected to Lok Sabha from Bhopal in the 2019 general election. Soon after, her remark describing Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse as a "patriot" sparked a huge row. Prime Minister Modi had then said the statements were "wrong for the society". "She has apologised, but I will never forgive her," the Prime Minister had said.
Five years on, the sitting MP has been dropped from Bhopal in the BJP's first list of 195 candidates. Sources from the party have said that while winnability is the most important criterion in candidates' selection, provocative remarks by leaders such as Pragya Thakur work against them. "Denial of tickets to them sends a message that in public life, decorum has to be maintained," a BJP leader said.
