Man ‘thrashed’ for showing black flag to Pragya Thakur

Anup Dutta

Bhopal, April 23

An unidentified party worker was beaten up allegedly by BJP workers for showing a black flag to BJP’s Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur at the Bhopal Collectorate premises on Tuesday. A video has gone viral on the social media, claiming an NCP worker had been thrashed by BJP men. 

Pragya, an accused in a terrorism case, held a roadshow on Tuesday. She was accompanied by BJP national vice-president and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Gopal Bhargava, outgoing Bhopal Member of Parliament Alok Sanjar, party workers, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers.

After filling her papers, Pragya addressed a public rally at Somwara, a densely populated locality. In an indirect reference to her days spent in jail, Pragya said, “Mein mahila utpidan ka pratayksh praman hoo. Mujhey alag- alag tarah sey pratadit kiya gaya. (I’m a living evidence of women’s oppression. I was tortured in different ways).” The BJP has formed a core team to launch the party campaign. It reportedly comprises three RSS workers and two BJP workers.

Pragya will take on senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh. Today, the latter addressed public meetings, met party leaders in the Sehore Assembly seat, one of the eight Assembly segments comprising the Bhopal seat.

In the morning, Digvijay tweeted: “New India was not built in last 5 years. Frm economy to institutions, nuclear to space power, best Army to great scientists, agricultural super power to IT power, all was done before u came! We did it without fomenting hate, by treating all as equal!”

The seat will witness a battle between hardline Hindutva and soft Hindutva. Polling will be held in the sixth phase on May 12.  

BJP MP files papers as ‘dummy’

• Outgoing Bhopal MP Alok Sanjar on Tuesday filed his nomination as a "dummy" candidate from the seat, a day after the police registered an FIR against party’s official nominee Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur over remarks on the 1992 demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. Sanjar said he filed nomination papers on the directives of the party leadership
• Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, had boasted about her role in the demolition of the 16th century structure, inviting a show-cause notice from the EC, which also directed the police to file an FIR against her on Monday