Pragya calls Sehore journalists 'beimaan'

Bhopal: BJP Bhopal MP Pragya Thakur has ignited yet another controversy by calling local journalists in Sehore ‘beimaan’ (dishonest). Mediapersons have protested and given a memorandum to police, seeking action.

“Ek bhi imandar nahi hai. Hum bol rahe hain, suno tumhari taarif. Jitne bhi media ke (laughing) Sehore ke mediawale hain, sab beimaan hain” (Not one of you is honest.

Listen to your praise. All the mediapersons in Sehore are dishonest),” Pragya said on Tuesday during the birthday celebrations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Sehore, an assembly segment that is part of her constituency.

Only about three weeks ago, she had stunned even her partymen by saying that the Opposition is using a powerful “marak shakti” (black magic), which is causing the untimely death of saffron stalwarts like Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj. The party had distanced itself from her comment and advised her, yet again, to be careful with her speech. A viral video shows her laughing when she makes the statement.

On Tuesday, Pragya went to Sehore for an event to celebrate the PM’s birthday. She initially refused to talk to reporters. When they shot a volley of questions on why she was “absent from her constituency”, she shot back: “Journalists cannot harm me.” When the reporters persisted with their questions, she said that local mediapersons were dishonest.

It was Pragya’s first visit to Sehore after July 21 when she had sparked a controversy by telling BJP workers that she had not been elected as MP to “clean toilets”. “Keep this in mind... We are not here for cleaning a drain. Is it clear? We are absolutely not (here) for cleaning your toilets. The work which we are supposed to do and elected for, we will do it honestly. This we had said in the past, saying it today and stick to it in future as well,” Pragya had told party workers when they raised local problems and requested her to visit more often.

Pragya’s statement made nationwide news — contrasting as it did with PM Modi’s Swachh mission — and caused a major embarrassment for BJP. The party’s national working president J P Nadda summoned Pragya to New Delhi headquarters and conveyed her the party leadership’s displeasure with her comments made at Sehore. Since then, Pragya has held local media responsible for making the video viral.

On Wednesday, local journalists marched to Kotwali police station in Sehore and handed over a complaint for action against Pragya. They have also asked former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is an MLA from Sehore district, to take cognisance of her statement. Another video of her from the same event purportedly shows Pragya distributing Rs 500 notes to local people.

The Madhya Pradesh Congress also criticized Pragya. “This is the same Sadhvi Pragya who hailed Mahatma Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse as a ‘patriot’ and mocked the martyrdom of ATS chief Hemant Karkare. She is now calling journalists ‘dishonest’. How long will PM Modi pardon her?” asked Congress state media coordinator Narendra Singh Saluja.

The state BJP, yet again, distanced itself from Pragya’s statement. “We don’t know what was the reference of Pragya ji’s statement against journalists. Pragya ji knows,” said BJP state spokesperson Deepak Vijayavargiya.