Pragya Singh Thakur

Pragya Singh Thakur (born 2 February 1970), better known as Sadhvi Pragya, is an Indian politician and Member of Parliament representing Bhopal and belonging 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).

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 her hair short, and dressing like a boy.

She was often called 'the girl with boyish looks'.

She loved riding bikes.

It was a motorcycle registered on her name which led to her arrest in connection with the Malegaon blasts.

Election Commission of India directed the police to file an FIR against Thakur for her Babri Masjid remark that she participated in demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in 1992.

The Election Commission later banned her for 72 hours from campaigning for violating the Model Code of Conduct by stirring up communal feelings.

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, a two-time Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

Thakur studied at Lahar College (Bhind), where, in 1993, she joined Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Sangh Parivar.

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.

Mumbai's Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) claimed that Thakur formed a group to take revenge for the 2006 Mumbai train bombings and that her motorcycle was used in the bomb blast.

This motorcycle was a key evidence in the arrest of Thakur.

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.

Cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon Dr. S. S. Rajput of the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow said that Thakur underwent a bilateral mastectomy to prevent recurrence of her cancer in 2008, stating he had operated on her three times.

She had been operated twice to surgically remove both her breasts to cure her breast cancer.

She was criticised for saying that her breast cancer got cured because of using cow urine and Panchagavya.

Thakur was in the news for saying that Mumbai former ATS chief Hemant Karkare died in 2008 Mumbai attacks because she cursed him for giving her bad treatment in jail after her arrest in 2008 blasts.

BJP leader Fatima Rasool Siddique said her communal and obnoxious remarks have tarnished the image of Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Muslims and she will not campaign for Thakur.

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.

In 2017 she was granted bail on health grounds following the dropping of some of the serious charges by the National Investigation Agency.

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.

She won her debut contest by a margin of 364,822 votes.

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.

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.

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.

According to political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot, she has become the "symbol" of the 2019 election, in which nebulous fringe elements of the Hindutva ideology have been mainstreamised.

On 21 November 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.