Pragya Thakur Removed From Parliamentary Defence Panel Amid Opposition Outrage
Pragya, according to reports, was removed from the defence panel on directions of BJP working president JP Nadda. The 21-member committee, which included Pragya as a member, also includes the name of former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah who is currently under house arrest.
New Delhi, November 28: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur was on Thursday removed from the parliamentary committee on defence by the government. The move comes in the backdrop of Opposition outrage, as the saffron-clad politician is accused of being involved in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts. Nathuram Godse a 'Deshbhakt': BJP MP Pragya Thakur Refers to Mahatma Gandhi's Assassin as Patriot.
Pragya was removed from the defence panel on directions of BJP working president JP Nadda. Her patronising remarks on Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, was cited as the reason for axing her. The 21-member committee, which included Pragya as a member, also includes the name of former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah who is currently under house arrest.
Here's What JP Nadda Said:
Pragya was earlier charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for alleged involvement in the blast in Malegaon which claimed 10 lives and left around 40 injured. She was granted bail on medical grounds in 2017 by the Bombay High Court.
In 2019, she took the political plunge after the BJP issued her the ticket from Bhopal to take on Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh in the Lok Sabha elections. Pragya ended up defeating the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and got elected to the Parliament's Lower House.
The parliamentary defence panel of which she was a part includes 12 members from the Lok Sabha and 9 from the Rajya Sabha. They are authorised to recommend Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on security subjects.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 28, 2019 10:58 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).