New Delhi: A controversy erupted after Malegaon blast accused and BJP MP from Bhopal Pragya Singh Thakur was nominated to the parliamentary consultative committee of the Ministry of Defence.
According to the government notification dated October 21, the 21-member parliamentary consultative committee is headed by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Thakur, who defeated Congress heavyweight Digvijaya Singh in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, also featured in the committee.
The 21-member Parliamentary Consultative Committee also includes the likes of opposition leaders Farooq Abdullah, TMC’s Sougata Roy, DMK’s A. Raja and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Thakur had courted controversy with her remarks on a number of occasions.
She had landed in a major controversy when she called Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, a patriot. The BJP had issued a show-cause notice to Pragya over the remarks. Thakur had also stirred controversy by saying that then Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare had died during the 26/11 terror attack because of her “curse”.
Congress objects to Pragya on defence panel
The Congress on Thursday hit out at the Narendra Modi-led government for the nomination and said that it was an irony that such a person has been given place instead of opting for clean leaders from its flock. Congress Secretary Pranav Jha told IANS, “It is ironic that such a person has been named in the Defence panel by the government.” Jha said such people are not given places in other parties but the BJP has brought her in.
“Bringing such people, against whom the cases are going in court is not good for democracy. Everything is not guided by the Constitution but some decisions are taken on moral grounds too. The BJP had won 303 seats and they have multiple options and many of whom are clean, with no cases against them. They should have been nominated in the Defence panel,” Jha added.
