‘RSS Pushed Pragya Thakur for Bhopal Battle’
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) writ ran large in the selection of Malegaon blast-accused Pragya Thakur as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.BJP candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur addresses a party workers meeting for Lok Sabha polls in Bhopal. (Photo: PTI)
Thakur, out on bail after serving nine years in jail in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast that killed six people, has long been the poster girl of the Sangh’s Hindutva campaign and is also used to exemplify what the organisation sees as the Congress’s “witch hunt of the RSS and the Hindus”.
“The Sangh felt that making her a contestant against Congress’s Digvijaya Singh would be a befitting reply to the Congress for coining the term ‘saffron terror’ to not just witch-hunt the Sangh, but also insult Hindus in general. The message [behind picking her] is clear — Sadhvi Pragya’s victory will wash away the stain of saffron terror,” a senior RSS functionary said on condition of anonymity.
(Source: Hindustan Times)