Table of Contents
EARLY LIFE
- Thakur was born on 2 February 1970. Her father, Chandrapal Singh, was an Ayurvedic practitioner in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh and a worker of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
- She had been a tomboy since her childhood, keeping short hair, and dressing like a boy.
- Thakur studied at Lahar College (Bhind), where, in 1993, she joined Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Sangh Parivar.
CAREER
- She subsequently rose to the position of state secretary and left this organisation in 1997. After that, she worked for Rashtrawadi Sena and the Hindu Jagran Manch.
- She was also a member of Durga Vahini, women’s wing of Hindu organisation Bajrang Dal. She is also a founder member of Vande Mataram Jan Kalyan Samiti, which is an organisation connected to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and belongs to the Sangh Parivar.
CAREER
- Thakur joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 17 April 2019 and was declared as the BJP candidate for Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency for 2019 elections.
- She was later criticised by BJP party leaders for saying that the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse was and always will be a patriot.
- Nevertheless, Thakur won the election by a margin of 364,822 votes defeating opposing candidate Digvijaya Singh.
CAREER
- On November 21, 2019 Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur has been made a part of the 21-member parliamentary consultative committee on defence, which is headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
- After her comment in parliament, where she called Nathuram Godse (Gandhi’s assassin) a patriot, she was criticised by opposition party members. On 28 November, she was sacked from the committee on defence as well as BJP parliamentary party meetings.
CONTROVERSY
- Following the 2008 Malegaon bombings, in which six people were killed and over 100 injured, Thakur was arrested as one of the prime accused in October 2008 under terrorism charges.
- On 19 January 2009, Maharashtra Police filed a 4000- page charge sheet for the Malegaon blasts. According to this charge sheet, Lt Col Prasad Purohit was claimed to be the main conspirator who provided the explosives and Thakur arranged the persons who planted the explosive.
- It was claimed that on 11 April 2008, Thakur and Purohit met in Bhopal wherein both agreed for cooperation in carrying out the blast.
CONTROVERSY
- I However, the charges framed against the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act were dropped for Thakur in July 2009 because Thakur was not proven to be a member of this organised crime syndicate.
- In 2012 she also filed an application for bail in the Bombay High Court on health grounds, claiming that she has been diagnosed with third-stage breast cancer. On 9 August 2012, she, however, withdrew her application.
- In 2014 she again filed an application for bail in the Bombay High Court which was rejected.In April 2017, she was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on health grounds. She is currently under trial for multiple charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention Act)
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