Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Bhopal, responded on Sunday to the party's decision not to field her in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Thakur expressed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may not have been "pleased" with her choice of words in the past and had conveyed to her that she "will not be forgiven."
In an interview with India Today regarding the BJP's decision, Thakur stated, "I did not seek a ticket before, and I am not seeking one now. The use of certain words in my previous statements might not have pleased Prime Minister Modi, and he had expressed that I won't be forgiven. However, I had already apologised to him earlier."
Thakur, who is also an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case and the sitting MP from Bhopal, has been replaced by Alok Sharma, a former Mayor.
Ms Thakur won the Lok Sabha seat from Bhopal in the 2019 general election.
In May 2019, her remark describing Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse as a "patriot" sparked controversy. Prime Minister Modi had condemned the statements as "wrong for the society."
"She has apologised, but I will never forgive her," the Prime Minister had stated.
Five years later, Thakur has been dropped from Bhopal in the BJP's first list of 195 candidates for Lok Sabha.
Responding to questions from the media, Ms Thakur said the party's decision is paramount. "My best wishes are with Alok Sharma, who is contesting from Bhopal this time. This time we will cross 400 seats," she said.
"If any word of mine hurt our Prime Minister and made him say that he will never forgive me, that was never my intention. I never did it again. The Congress abused him and maligned his office. They pulled off a political stunt," she added.
Pragya Singh Thakur is among the 33 sitting BJP MPs whose names were missing from the party's first list of 195 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections released on Saturday.
