BJP distances itself from Pragya Thakur's remark, Congress slams Bhopal MP

BJP lawmaker Pragya Thakur on Monday faced flak from Congress leaders for making bizarre claims of 'opposition resorting to sorcery on BJP leaders', while her party distanced itself from her controversial statement.

Thakur had on Monday courted controversy after alleging that the opposition parties are using 'maarak shakti' to harm BJP leaders.

On being asked to comment on Thakur's statement, Leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh assembly Gopal Bhargava told , "She (Pragya) can tell you better on this (comment). Everyone has different views. I don't believe in all these things".

Congress on the other hand criticised the BJP MP for her comment and said that such comments do not befit the stature of a parliamentarian.

Cabinet Minister Jitu Patwari said, "Arun Jaitley and Babulal Gaur were not only BJP leaders, but also leaders of this country. They were considered as our fathers and we respected them a lot. Pragya is not a sadhvi anymore. She is an MP. Such comments do not befit the stature of any parliamentarian. This mentality cannot take our country and Bhopal forward".

Echoing similar sentiments, Congress leader Manak Agarwal told , "Congress never believes in all these things. Pragya Thakur is an expert in all these things. She said that Hemant Karkare had died because she had cursed him."

Earlier in the day while addressing a condolence meeting to pay tribute to Jaitley and Gaur, Pragya had said, "During my election campaign, a maharaj ji (religious person) had told me that the Opposition is resorting to sorcery on your party (BJP) and its leaders. He said it is a very bad time and asked me to be cautious." (Mein jab chunaav lad rahi thi, tab ek Maharaj ji aaye the aur unhone kaha tha ki yeh bahut bura samay chal raha hai. Vipaksh ek maarak shakti ka prayog aapki party aur uske netao ke liye kar raha hai aur aise me aap savdhaan rahe.)

"I had forgotten about this thing after that. But now, when I see that leaders of our party are leaving us one by one, I recall what the Maharaj ji had said. Whether you believe it or not, this is true and it is happening," Pragya added. (Iske baad mein ye baat bhul gayi thi. Lekin ab jab mein yeh dekhti hu ki hamari party ke neta yu ek ke baad ek jaa rahe hai, toh mujhe unn Maharaj ji ki baat yaad aati hai. Bhale aap vishwaas kare ya naa kare, par yehi satya hai aur yeh ho raha hai.)

After the meeting, the media tried to elicit some more comments but she refused to elaborate.

( With inputs from ANI )