New Delhi: Controversial Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Bhopal Pragya Singh Thakur’s comments Monday that the Opposition was using “marak shakti” (killing power) to harm BJP leaders and that some “evil power” was behind the recent deaths of veteran leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj have not gone down well with the party’s Madhya Pradesh unit.
A section of state BJP leaders has approached the central leadership, urging them to rein in Thakur, who has been consistently causing embarrassment to the party with her controversial remarks.
While addressing a condolence meeting at the BJP office in Bhopal to pay tribute to Jaitley and former Madhya Pradesh CM Babulal Gaur, Thakur had said: “While I was contesting (Lok Sabha) elections, a maharaj ji told me that bad times are upon us and Opposition is up to something using some marak shakti against BJP…. Now, when I see our top leaders Sushma ji, Babulal ji, Jaitley ji leaving us one by one after undergoing pain, I am forced to think, wasn’t it (what maharaj said) right?”
Jaitley died on 24 August, Gaur on 21 August and Swaraj on 6 August.
State BJP can’t take action against Thakur
A state BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said they couldn’t take action against Thakur as she is an MP and any decision in this regard has to be taken by the central leadership.
“This is not the first time that she has made such comments that are completely unacceptable. However, she is an MP and we can’t really say much to her. We also don’t agree with her statements and it wasn’t a platform to pass such comments. We have asked senior leaders to look into the matter and help resolve this issue,” the leader said.
Another party leader, also on the condition of anonymity, said Thakur should “choose her words carefully” as it impacts the entire party.
“I personally don’t agree with her statement. We have been working hard for the (BJP’s) membership drive and all this shifts focus to her statements rather than the work we are doing so effectively,” he said.
“Madhya Pradesh state unit is mostly in the news whenever she makes such comments, which is not right. This is becoming a regular affair,” said a third BJP leader.
Queen of controversies
Earlier, Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case, had said she was not elected a parliamentarian to “clean toilets and drains”, while addressing BJP workers in MP’s Sehore on 21 July.
Following this, BJP working president J.P. Nadda had called her to Delhi and expressed his displeasure over the remarks.
During the Lok Sabha elections, Thakur had kicked up another political storm after she described Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a patriot. She had later apologised.
In a damage-control exercise, the BJP said the matter was referred to the party’s disciplinary committee. The committee had given Thakur 10 days to respond to the notice. According to a BJP functionary, the committee has sent a report to BJP president Amit Shah, who will take a final call.
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