Soon after Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party announced that she will contest from Bhopal in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
In a list released on Wednesday, 17 April, the BJP declared four candidates for the general elections in Madhya Pradesh, including Sadhvi Pragya, who is set to take on the Congress heavyweight and former state CM Digvijaya Singh from the state capital.
Speaking to ANI on her candidature from Bhopal, Pragya said, “We are ready, I am involved in that (election) work itself.”
“I have formally joined the BJP. I will contest the elections and win as well,” she had earlier said.
She had also visited the BJP office in Bhopal to meet BJP leaders Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Ramlal, and Prabhat Jha on Wednesday.
Pragya is an accused in the Malegaon blast case which involve twin bomb explosions in the Maharashtra city on 29 September 2008, which left nearly 70 people dead.
Though the NIA court dropped provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against her, she is being tried under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). She is currently out on bail.
Among other candidates, KP Yadav will be the BJP nominee from Guna, which is held by senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is contesting again from there.
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.
(With inputs from ANI and NDTV)
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