BJP picks Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya for Bhopal; To take on Digvijay Singh

Bhopal, Apr 17: Malegaon Blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Thakur on Wednesday joined the BJP and she has been fielded from Bhopal to take on senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh.

"I have formally joined BJP, I will contest elections and will win also," she told ANI after the meeting today.

Bhopal is a stronghold of the BJP and the Congress has not won from this seat since 1989. This will further give impetus to the BJP's Hindutva narrative as Singh is someone who has made several statements against "saffron terror". The issue of Safron Terror or Hindu terror is a contentious issue and the BJP has been bitterly criticising the Congress for having allegedly coined the term. The BJP confirmed Thakur's candidature from Madhya Pradesh's capital, and Bhopal will is likely to witness a highly-polarized battle.

The 29 Lok Sabha constituencies of Madhya Pradesh will go to polls in four phases on April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won 27 seats in the state, with the Congress managing to retain only Chhindwara and Guna.

Sadhvi was an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts before being released last year after NIA said it had no prosecutable evidence against her. She came to limelight in 2008 after her arrest for Malegaon blasts. The case is still ongoing and she is out on bail.