MP: Malegaon Blast Acquittal May Not Revive Pragya’s ‘Sagging’ Political Career: BJP Functionaries Say
BJP insiders say her role in 2019 was strategic, but controversies and health hinder future prospects
Bhopal: Former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur’s acquittal in the 2008 Malegaon blast case may not revive her ‘sagging’ political career, senior BJP functionaries here said. She may end up as an ‘one-time MP’ and may never stage a comeback to politics, a senior BJP leader said here on Thursday.
“She has insurmountable odds working against her in the way of her comeback to politics,” he added.
According to some senior BJP leaders here, Pragya Singh was launched in electoral politics in 2019 Lok Sabha elections by the BJP ‘primarily to settle political scores’ with Congress veteran and former chief minister Digvijay Singh.
“The purpose of launching Pragya in politics was served when she defeated the Congress stalwart by a huge margin in Bhopal. The BJP wanted to settle political scores with Singh by ensuring his defeat by a political novice,” he said, unwilling to be quoted.
Singh had lost by around 3.6 lakh votes despite Pragya Thakur’s candidature being declared at the last moment, and she had hardly campaigned for less than a week. The BJP used her candidature to create a saffron wave in the constituencies around Bhopal.
The BJP had later found it very challenging to handle her as she had triggered unnecessary controversies with her frequent ‘tongue-in-cheek’ remarks, embarrassing the party, the BJP leader said. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had once expressed his displeasure over this.
That was primarily the reason for the BJP to deny her ticket in 2024, the BJP functionary said. This apart, the other major factor that may prevent her from staging a comeback in politics is her health condition, he added.