Karkare a martyr, Sadhvi Pragya’s remark ‘personal': BJP

Bhopal, Apr 19: Amidst severe backlash on Sadhvi Pragya Thakur's controversial statement that 26/11 martyr Hemant Karkare 'died due to her annihilation curse', BJP has distanced itself from the comment, saying that'party stands with the family of Hemant Karkare' while not engaging in politics.

"BJP considers him a martyr.", We will not play politics on this. This is Sadhvi Pragya's personal statement which she might have given because of the mental & physical torture she had faced. But the party respects the martyrdom of Hemant Karkare and stands with his family. says a BJP statement.

hakur, while addressing a press conference in Bhopal on Thursday, accused Karkare of torturing her and said: "He tortured me... I said may you perish, his inauspicious time started from that moment and he was killed by terrorists in a month."

Digvijaya Singh, who is contesting against Thakur, termed her statement as a violation of election commission's order.

"Her comment is a violation of Election Commission's order of not making any political statements on the Army and martyrs. Hemant Karkareji was an honest and committed officer who attained martyrdom to save the life of people in 26/11 Mumbai Terror attacks."