In a surprise move, BJP MP Pragya Thakur has been nominated to a 21-member parliamentary consultative committee on defence that will be headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Pragya Thakur is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case ad is currently out on bail. The Bombay High Court granted her bail on health grounds in April 2017 after the NIA dropped charges against her under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. She is currently under trial for multiple charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Congress was quick to respond and has termed this as “an insult to our nation’s defence forces”.
In a tweet by the Congress, they have said that “Pragya Thakur, a terror accused & Godse fanatic has been nominated by the BJP govt. to be a member of the Parliamentary Panel on Defence. This move is an insult to our nation’s defence forces, to our nation’s esteemed parliamentarians & to every Indian.” They also urged the government to rethink the nomination.
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According to a notification dated October 31, other members of the committee include National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, who has been detained at his residence in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar since the centre’s decision on Article 370 in August.
Pragya Thakur is a first-time parliamentarian and was elected from Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, where she beat veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.
The consultative committee is decided by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
Pragya Thakur, has time and again, landed herself into trouble because of her controversial statements. From saying that she hasn’t been elected to clean toilets and drains to describing Nathuram Godse, Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, as a “patriot,” Thakur had even received disapproval from the Prime Minster.
Amid widespread criticism and unrelenting attacks by opposition leaders, Prime Minister Modi was forced to issue a comment wherein he said that he will “never forgive her”.
