Bhopal, Aug 7 (IANS) A week after former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha MP, Pragya Thakur, along with six others acquitted in the Malegaon blast case on July 31, Madhya Pradesh party President Hemant Khandelwal along with other party functionaries met Thakur in Bhopal on Thursday.
Khandelwal accompanied the State BJP In-charge Mahendra Singh and the state party’s General Secretary (Organisation), Hitanand Sharma, visited Thakur’s residence in Bhopal and they congratulated her for her acquittal.
A couple of photos of the meetings shared by the State BJP Media department, shows Pragya Thakur, who is known as ‘Sadhvi’, sitting in the middle, while Khandelwal, Mahendra Singh sitting on her right with Hitanand Sharma on the left side.
It may be too early to draw any conclusion about Pragya Thakur’s political future at present, however, this meeting with the party’s head of the state and other senior functionaries came as crucial for her as she was sidelined from the party after the Lok Sabha elections last year.
Pragya Thakur was elected as the Lok Sabha MP from Bhopal in 2019.
She had defeated veteran Congress leader and two-time former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh; however, she was denied a BJP ticket in 2024.
As she was now acquitted from the Malegaon blast case, Pragya Thakur would try to find her place in the party.
This meeting came two days after veteran BJP leader and former Chief Minister Uma Bharti visited Pragya Thakur’s residence on Tuesday.
During the meeting, the duo embraced each other warmly, with tears in their eyes, reflecting the emotional weight of the meeting after years of struggle and controversy surrounding the Malegaon blast case.
Uma Bharti had praised Pragya Thakur for her strength and resilience throughout the legal and personal battles she has faced over the years.
“I consider Sadhvi as a messiah. She has endured unimaginable torture with unwavering courage,” Uma Bharti had said after meeting Pragya Thakur.
Recalling Uma Bharti’s support during her time in custody, Pragya Thakur has said, “When our companions and I were in jail, Uma ji came to meet us in Nashik and Bhopal jails. She did the work that no man could do.”
Nearly 17 years after a bomb blast killed six people in the Maharashtra town of Malegaon, a special court in its judgment on July 31, acquitted all the seven accused, including Pragya Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit, saying that the prosecution had failed to prove any credible evidence in the case.
–IANS
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