Congress attacks Pragya Singh Thakur for skipping Gandhi Sankalp Yatra

The absence of Bhopal Lok Sabha MP Pragya Singh Thakur from the BJP’s Gandhi Sankalp Padyatra in Madhya Pradesh as part of the party’s nationwide programme to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi has given the ruling Congress party a stick to beat the controversial lawmaker with.

Gandhi Sankalp Padyatra which began on October 2 will end on October 31.

Pragya Thakur’s statement during Lok Sabha election campaign that Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse was a patriot had sparked outrage in the country following which the BJP distanced itself from her statement and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his displeasure over the same. The MP is an accused in the Malegaon bombing in Maharashtra in 2008 in which six people were killed and many others were injured.

The Congress claimed that Gandhi Sanklap Yatra is a smokescreen of the BJP.

“Pragya Thakur’s absence from Gandhi Sanklap Yatra is hardly surprising. In fact, the entire BJP doesn’t follow Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology. Their yatra is to mislead people and create confusion among them just for the sake of votes,” Bhupendra Gupta, Congress spokesperson in Madhya Pradesh said.

Gupta said Pragya Thakur had gone on record dubbing Nathuram Godse as a patriot and no disciplinary action was taken against her.

The BJP defended the first-time MP saying she is unwell.

“Pragya Thakur happens to be a sadhvi as well apart from being a politician. She was busy in religious rituals during Navratra. She came back to Bhopal on Saturday but she was having high fever, hence she didn’t attend any programme except a programme of Balmiki Samaj and that too for only five minutes,” Vikas Virani, Bhopal BJP unit president said.

Virani said she would take part in Gandhi Sankalp Yatra most probably around October 18 as she is expected to recover from viral fever by then.