BHOPAL: Hurt by 2008 Malegaon blast accused and BJP’s Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur’s controversial remarks on ex-Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare, a retired officer of Maharashtra Police has plunged into the Lok Sabha poll battle in Madhya Pradesh.
Sixty-year-old Riyazuddin Deshmukh, for whom the Ashok Chakra awardee was a guru (mentor), has filed nomination papers as an independent candidate from Bhopal.
“I worked under Hemant Karkare sir as a sub-inspector in 1988, while he was the SP of Akola. Since then I stayed in touch with him and learnt from him. Thakur’s remarks, dubbing my mentor and senior as a deshdrohi (traitor) has compelled me to fight the polls,” said Deshmukh.
Creating a new controversy, Thakur called Congress candidate Digvijaya Singh a terrorist while addressing a rally in Sehore. “He (Digvijaya) got factories closed during his rule, which ruined your lives. Uma Didi (Uma Bharti) had defeated him 16 years back... Now, another sanyasin has come to put an end to his political career,” said Thakur.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Fatima Rasool Siddiqui ‘Gudiya,’ who unsuccessfully contested the 2018 polls from Bhopal North, has refused to campaign for Thakur. She said there were better candidates who could have been fielded by the BJP.