Pragya Singh Thakur

For other people named Sadhvi, see Sadhvi (name).

Pragya Singh Thakur
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
23 May 2019 – 4 June 2024
Preceded byAlok Sanjar
Succeeded byAlok Sharma
ConstituencyBhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Personal details
Born
Pragya Chandrapal Singh Thakur

(1970-02-02) 2 February 1970 (age 54)[1][2]
Lahar, Bhind, Madhya Pradesh, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Parent(s)Dr. C. P. Singh, Sarla Singh
Residence(s)B 29-74, Bungalow, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
Known forMember of Parliament, and one of the prime accused in 2008 Malegaon blasts
Source: [1]

Pragya Singh Thakur (born 2 February 1970), better known as Sadhvi Pragya,[3] is an Indian politician and former Member of Parliament who represented Bhopal and belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party. During her college days, she was an active member of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and later joined various affiliate organisations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

She is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bombings where 10 people were killed and 82 more were injured. She was arrested on terror charges after her bike was found to be used in the bomb blast. She is currently under trial for multiple charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. In 2017 she was granted bail on health grounds following the dropping of some of the serious charges by the National Investigation Agency.[4][5]

Thakur contested the 2019 Indian general election from Bhopal constituency, running against Digvijaya Singh of the Indian National Congress, the former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.[1] She won her debut contest by a margin of 364,822 votes.[6] According to political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot, she has become the "symbol" of the 2019 election, in which nebulous fringe elements of the Hindutva ideology became mainstream.[7]

On 21 November 2019 Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur was 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 removed from the committee on defence as well as BJP parliamentary party meetings.

  1. ^ a b Vidya (21 April 2019). "Fact Check: Mehbooba Mufti, senior journalists are wrong on Sadhvi Pragya's age". India Today. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Pragya Thakur notarised affidavit filed with Election commission of India" (PDF). Election Commission of India (in Hindi). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  3. ^ "Who is Sadhvi Pragya?". The Indian Express. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Malegaon blast case: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Prasad Purohit to face trial for terrorism". Live Mint. 27 December 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Malegaon blast case: MCOCA dropped, terror charges remain against Sadhvi Pragya, Lt Col Purohit". Hindustan Times. 27 December 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Bhopal Elections Results: Congress flunks crucial MP test, hands over win to Pragya Thakur". The Economic Times. Agencies. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  7. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (24 May 2019). "Election results invite questions for liberals. Worldwide, they lack their rivals' discipline". The Indian Express. Retrieved 24 July 2024.