Journalism of Courage
The Election Commission (EC) has served a notice on BJP’s candidate from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur, for violating the model code of conduct over her comments about former Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare.
Addressing party workers on the outskirts of Bhopal late on Thursday, Thakur had said that she had cursed Karkare because he tortured her in custody, and that the inauspicious period that began with her incarceration ended when terrorists killed Karkare. Following a national uproar, she retracted the comments and apologised for her remarks.
Chief Electoral Officer V L Kantha Rao said that the BJP candidate has been given a notice for violating the model code that prohibits use of language that promotes ill-will or hatred. Asked about the maximum punishment, he said the EC can at best register an FIR against her under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant).
EC sources indicated that Thakur could escape consequences of her statement because she has apologised for it, provided her written reply follows the same course. The notice has also been served on BJP’s Bhopal district chief for being the organiser of the event where the poll code was violated.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Tarun Bhanot on Saturday lodged a complaint at Gorakhpur police station seeking action against Thakur for her remarks. “I am hurt with her remarks against a martyr and filed the complaint as a citizen and not a minister,” he told PTI.
Congress candidate Digvijaya Singh said it was between the EC and Thakur and he has no comments to offer.
Digvijaya Singh has gone to great lengths to try and shed the anti-Hindu and pro-minority image his comments in the past evoked. Even sarcastic comments made by him were used by rivals to reinforce that image. before these Lok Sabha elections, the Congress leader undertook a Narmada Parikrama, walking along the sacred river for months, covering more than 3,200 km. Over last few weeks he has visited more temples than many BJP rivals. He knows one false step, and his attempted image makeover could come a cropper. He has assiduously avoided talking about religion, except mouthing generalities.
The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, who filed his nomination on Saturday, has asked party spokespersons not to engage in debates over Hindutva or saffron terror, or similar controversial topics, as that could backfire. He sticks to the development theme and has asked party workers to follow suit. Singh was restrained even while reacting to his rival’s statement on Karkare. Thakur has called Singh names such as “adharmi (irreligious)” and the man responsible for coining the term “saffron terror”.
Read | Sadhvi Pragya’s remarks on Hemant Karkare: Immoral, says ex-DGP; Modi had visited cop’s home
On Saturday, Digivijaya took a dig at the BJP for making former bureaucrat R K Singh a Union minister, saying it was Singh who had used the phrase officially. Responding to a question, Singh said the word “Hindutva” is not part of his dictionary.
The Congress leader has also complained to the EC about alleged presence of fake voters in Bhopal constituency.
Thakur on Saturday hit out at Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath and alleged he was “guilty” in 1984 anti-Sikh riots, PTI reported.
Nath had told the media in Chhindwara on Friday, “I condemn Pragya Thakur’s statement. If this is the start, where will it end…”
Thakur said, according to PTI, “A person guilty in the 1984 riots…is asking what will be my end. Don’t talk about my end. He (Nath) has no moral right to bother about a sadhvi. You stay put in your corrupt life.”
