Bhopal: Sadhvi Pragya Bharti who was earlier named in Malegaon blasts has expressed willingness to take on Digvijay Singh in Lok Sabha poll. Digvijay Singh is ‘desh ka dushman’ and I openly challenge countries’ enemies, said Bharti at her residence in Bhopal. Bharti has been discharged from an ayurvedic hospital in the city months ago after being treated for several critical illnesses. Though she did not say she has been contacted by the BJP on polls, she did say BJP was a party which matched her ideology. Bharti also hinted she wasn’t eager to contest poll but was contacted by someone over LS polls.
Bharti who was exonerated in Malegaon blast case in 2016 said it was an opportune moment to enter politics. She slammed the Congress party saying it attacks saffron forces and Hindutva by calling them terror forces. Patriots like me were ready to offer a fitting reply, said the saint who had taken sanyas at the age of 14.
She was in the past an accused in RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi’s murder of 2007 and was assigned clean chit in this case as well.
Born as Pragya Singh Tahkur in Bhind district, Bharti had taken sanyas at an early age and got engaged as religious orator. She was arrested and booked over involvement in Malegaon blast in 2008. It was alleged that the bike found on the blast site belonged to her. Early in the day, MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath had announced that Digvijaya Singh was to contest from Bhopal.