NEW DELHI: The arrest of a sadhvi in connection with the Malegaon blasts on Sunday triggered political charges and counter-charges in the Sangh Parivar with BJP accused of disowning her.
Attacking the BJP, Bhartiya Janshakti Party chief Uma Bharti expressed “shock” that the party and its affiliated organisations were “disowning” Pragya Singh Thakur, 38, the sadhvi suspected of having links with Hindu Jagaran Manch.
“I am shocked. It is shameful that the BJP and all their organisations are disowning her. When they wanted, they used her,” she said.
Bharti recalled having met Pragya in the late 90s during elections in Bhopal. “At that time, she was working for the ABVP,” she said, adding after that she had heard Pragya had become a sanyasin.
Countering Bharti, BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said, “There is no question of owning or disowning her. She left ABVP in 1995-96.”
BJP, he said, “has made it clear that the law must take its course, provide evidence and let action be taken against anyone who is responsible. Even her father has said that if she is responsible, action should be taken”.
Referring to the Batla House encounter in Jamia Nagar here, Prasad said, “We don’t talk about any probe about the Jamia (incident) during which a courageous police officer died. We always say take tough action against terrorism. Terrorism has no religion”. He further said “the way media is painting ‘Hindu terror’ is something we take offence to because I see double standards of media evident there”.
