Bhopal, May 21: The Madhya Pradesh government is planning to reopen the murder case of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak Sunil Joshi in which the Bharatiya Janata Party's Bhopal candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is an accused. The Indian National Congress-led government in the state will seek legal opinion on reopening the case, in which Thakur was acquitted, said state Law Minister P C Sharma on Tuesday. PM Modi Reprimands Sadhvi Pragya Thakur For Pro-Godse Remark, Says 'Will Never Forgive Her For Insulting Mahatma Gandhi'.

Joshi, once an aide of Pragya Thakur, was shot dead in Dewas district on December 29, 2007. Due to lack of evidence, Thakur and seven others were acquitted by a court in 2017. The MP government will appeal in a higher court to restart the murder case, Sharma said. The Dewas collector has been asked to present a report in connection with the case, the minister added. ‘Chowkidar’ to Khaki Underwear: Abuses, Epithets and Insults Galore in Lok Sabha Elections 2019.

Sharma claimed that the former district collector took the decision to close the case, instead of sending it to the law department for opinion. “The district collector should have sent the report to the law department instead of deciding that there was no need to move a higher court,” he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party dubbed the move as political revenge. “It looks like the MP government is going to take this decision because Pragya Thakur contested the election as BJP candidate against Congress’ Digvijaya Singh. This is politics of revenge,” said BJP spokesman Rajnish Agrawal.

Thakur has been in the limelight since BJP has fielded her from Bhopal against Congress' Digvijaya Singh in Bhopal. She currently spurred controversy by terming Nathuram Godse, an assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, a "patriot". Earlier, she claimed that then Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare died in 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks as she had "cursed" him.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 21, 2019 04:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).