What Makes Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur Controversy¡¯s Favourite Child

From her contentious entry into the poll fray to defeating Congress veteran Digvijay Singh in Bhopal in 2019 General Elections and being consistent at making tendentious remarks, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur has remained controversy¡¯s favourite child. She holds forth with insensitive remarks on fairly sensitive topics, giving media and social media enough fodder for days.

The 49-year-old Hindutva activist is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case which killed 10 people and injured 80 and is currently out on bail on health grounds.

Sadhvi Pragya stirred a hornet¡¯s nest on November 28 after terming Gandhi¡¯s assassin Nathuram Godse as a patriot for the second time. However, this time her loose remarks were met with some severe repercussions.

When DMK member A Raja cited a statement of Godse on why he killed Mahatma Gandhi during a discussion on the Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill, Thakur interrupted and said, "You cannot give an example of a deshbhakt."

However, BJP later claimed that Pragya¡¯s remark did not refer to Godse but to Uddham Singh.

"According to Pragya Thakur, she has not said anything about or supported Nathuram Godse, she was only talking about Udham Singh, the revolutionary who killed General Dyer," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi told PTI.

BJP decided to come out in support of the controversial MP, who is facing a volley of attacks by the Opposition.

A day after making the provocative remarks, Sadhvi Pragya was axed from the Consultative Committee on Defence -- she was appointed only eight days ago -- but she can't attend BJP parliamentary party meetings during the current session either.

BJP also said that the party does not support such statements.

Gau mutra curing cancer

At one point, Sadhvi claimed that a mixture of gau mutra (cow urine) and other cow products cured her cancer.

Sadhvi Pragya called the cure scientific, saying, "I am a living example of its effectiveness.¡± However, her surgeon wasn¡¯t too sure of the claim.

Dr SS Rajput, who heads the cardiothoracic and vascular surgery (CTVS) department at Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow, said Pragya opted for surgery to prevent recurrence of malignancy after she was diagnosed with cancer in 2011.

¡°I have operated upon her thrice ¨C in 2008, 2011 and 2017 ¡ª to check spread of cancer in her body,¡± Dr Rajput told TOI. On Sadhvi¡¯s claim of gau mutra¡¯s healing power, he said: ¡°It is a matter of her faith. When she asked me about gau mutra, I told her there was no harm, but I cannot comment on its benefits. I also told her it was her faith, luck and decision.¡±

Offensive remarks on Karkare

Eleven years after the Mumbai attacks, the distressing memories remain etched in the minds of people. Politics, however, has tried warping the suffering.

Sadhvi launched a severe attack against former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief late Hemant Karkare for allegedly implicating her in the Malegaon blast case and subjecting her to torture during interrogation.

In a video, she is heard as saying: ¡°Maine kaha tera sarvanash hoga. Theek sava mahine mein sutak lagta hain. Jis din main gayi thi theek usi din iske sutak lag gaya tha. Aur theek sava mahine mein jis din atankwadiyon ne isko maara us din uska anth hua (I had told him that he will be destroyed. Sutak (a period of abstention in Hindu tradition after a death or birth in a family) comes into force within one month and a quarter. It came into force the day I was arrested. And exactly one and a quarter month later he was destroyed by the terrorists."

Karkare and two other senior cops from Mumbai Vinay Kamte and Vijay Salaskar were killed by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, during the 26/11 terror strikes. Karkare was the ATS head then and was investigating the Malegaon blast case in which a bomb had exploded in Maharashtra north on September 29, 2008.

The motorcycle laden with explosives was traced down to Surat in Gujarat by its registration plate and later to Thakur.

Sadhvi¡¯s remarks led to a nationwide furore which ultimately forced her to withdraw her statement.

Helping in Babri demolition

Back in April this year, Sadhvi Pragya bragged about taking part in Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya on December 6 and does not regret it.

In fact, she said that she is proud of it. She boasted that she climbed atop Babri Masjid and helped demolish the structure.

In an interview to a TV channel, Pragya said, ¡°Why would we regret the demolition of the Babri Masjid? We are, in fact, proud of it. There were some waste products at the Ram temple and we removed it. This has awakened the self-respect of our country and we will construct a grand Ram temple."

¡®Evil power¡¯ working on BJP

Sadhvi¡¯s list of controversial statements is long.

She once said that the Congress was using 'evil forces' to hurt BJP leaders. "I had been told by a maharaj ji before the elections that bad times are upon us as the Opposition was using some maarak shakti against the BJP," she had said. "I don't remember [exactly] what he said, but now that so many leaders are leaving us one by one, I am forced to [wonder if he] was right," she had said in August during a condolence meeting after the death of BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Babulal Gaur.

Godse a ¡®patriot¡¯

In May, Sadhvi yet again stirred controversy when she glorified Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, and called him a ¡°deshbhakt¡± (patriot).

She had said: "Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt (patriot), is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within, such people will be given a fitting reply in the election." This was followed by more comments from three more leaders, Anant Kumar Hegde, Nalin Kumar Kateel and Anil Saumitra.

Distressed by the comments from party members, PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he won¡¯t ever be able to forgive them for insulting Bapu.

The BJP tweeted PM Modi as saying in an interview to the channel: "The comments on Gandhi and Godse are deplorable, disgusting and are not language fit for civilised society. Those who say such things should think 100 times. It is a different issue that they have apologised, but I will not be able to forgive them from my heart."

She had earlier supported the ban on burkhas for the sake of national security.

Sadhvi has never talked about issues affecting her constituency or issues such as unemployment, farmers¡¯ distress plaguing the country. For many, she remains a vociferous force of Hindutva and the flagbearer of the Sangh Parivar¡¯s ideology.

Not sure if these remarks will help Sadhvi forge a political future for herself but her performance as an MP in and outside of the house remains questionable.