New Delhi: Controversial BJP MP and terror suspect Pragya Thakur has been uncharacteristically quiet over the past few weeks, with the party also keeping her away from the campaign for an upcoming assembly bypoll.
While her aides say Thakur has been under the radar because she is at a Kerala wellness centre after a bout of chickenpox left her weak, a party source hinted that the BJP wanted to avoid the “unnecessary attention” she would bring on the Jhabua campaign trail.
“The party held a meeting and it was felt that it would not be appropriate to include her in the (star campaigners’) list as she will attract unnecessary attention,” said a senior BJP leader.
“Jhabua is a tribal seat and the bypolls are crucial for both the BJP and the Congress, which is why the party is not willing to take any chance,” the leader added.
In the 2018 assembly election in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress snuck an edge over the BJP by a whisker — while the BJP won 109 of the state’s 230 seats, the Congress got 114 and went on to form the government with two BSP, one SP and Independent MLAs.
The BJP had reportedly issued a gag order for Thakur in August after the MP made a series of controversial comments, the latest of which came on the heels of three senior party leaders’ deaths within weeks of each other, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Babulal Gaur (former Madhya Pradesh chief minister).
Addressing a condolence meeting for Jaitley, she said the three leaders had fallen prey to “black magic” performed by the opposition.
A miffed BJP had then allegedly barred Thakur from addressing even state party events.
Also Read: Sadhvi Pragya has dismal Lok Sabha report card, RSS steps in to ‘groom’ her
‘Undergoing treatment’
Apart from not finding place on the star campaigners’ list for Jhabua, Thakur was also missing from the Gandhi Jayanti programme held in her own constituency, Bhopal, even as her party went all out to mark the leader’s 150th birth anniversary.
Notably, one of the biggest controversies surrounding Thakur has been describing Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse a “patriot”.
People tasked with managing Thakur’s schedule, however, made light of her absence from the public sphere, saying she was undergoing treatment at a “shivir” in Kerala.
According to one of the sources contacted by this reporter, she will be back by the end of the month.
Another source from her entourage said Thakur was suffering from chickenpox and had become quite weak. She also needed rest after the hectic Parliament session, which concluded on 7 August. The session was the first of the 17th Lok Sabha and marked Thakur’s debut as an MP.
“She decided to go for the Kerala wellness centre as she had become quite weak and needed rest after the Parliament session and subsequent programmes,” the source added. “This time, she has gone all alone and has not taken her staff members.”
Singh has previously undergone at least three surgeries related to a tumour in her breast, the last one being a preventive mastectomy in 2017, Dr S.S. Rajput, the surgeon who performed the procedure, had told ThePrint this April.
Even as Thakur is maintaining a low-profile, she has attended a few local programmes, including to hand over cheques to flood victims and a meeting of railway projects related to Bhopal, one of her close aides said.
She had also visited Sehore, which falls under the Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency, as part of the ‘Seva Saptah’ week to mark PM Modi’s birthday last month, the source added. However, she again stoked a controversy here when she called local journalists “dishonest”.
“Apart from this, she also took part in a Janmashtami programme. But as far as major or large-scale programmes are concerned, she is keeping a low-profile,” said another BJP functionary.
The MP, who is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast, had emerged as one of the biggest news points of this Lok Sabha election, with the terror charge and Godse comment imbuing her campaign with controversy.
She had also drawn much ire for saying that the death of Hemant Karkare, the former Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad chief killed in 26/11, was because of a “curse” she had invoked after he “tortured” her during the Malegaon investigation.
Thakur had subsequently issued apologies for the Godse and Karkare remarks.
Controversies followed her into her MP tenure as well. On 21 July, while addressing BJP workers in Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore, Thakur had said that “I have not been elected to clean your drains”.
“Nor am I elected to clean up the toilets in your homes,” she added, seemingly undermining one of the key projects of the Modi government, Swachh Bharat. “I am honestly performing the responsibilities for which I have become a parliamentarian.”
Also Read: Pragya Thakur will wield broom to promote cleanliness — her ‘punishment’ for toilet remark
Gag orders should also be placed on several other loudmouths of the BJP like Sadhu Sakshi Maharaj