BHOPAL: Known for making controversial remarks, which often embarrass her own party, the 2008 Malegaon Blast accused and first-time BJP MP, Pragya Singh Thakur, doesn’t figure in the saffron party’s committee for urban local body polls in Bhopal.
Recently, the state BJP constituted a selection panel of senior leaders for selecting party’s candidates for the next month’s urban local body elections. The committees were constituted for seven divisions, including Gwalior-Chambal, Sagar, Shahdol-Rewa, Indore, Ujjain, Bhopal-Narmadapuram and Jabalpur divisions.
For the Bhopal-Narmadapuram division (which comprises three Lok Sabha seats, Bhopal, Vidisha and Hoshangabad), a nine-member strong committee was constituted to select the candidates for the urban local body polls slated to be held in two phases on July 6 and 13.
The nine committee members included first time MP from Vidisha Ramakant Bhargava (considered close to CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan) and third-time sitting MP from Hoshangabad Uday Pratap Singh. But, the third Lok Sabha member of the division, the first time MP from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur, wasn’t included in the panel.
The development happened the same day when Thakur had defended suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. Reacting to the party not considering her in the panel, Thakur tweeted “One reply to all questions is I respect the party organisation’s decision not to include me in the committee for selecting candidates.”