Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur to contest against Digvijay Singh from Bhopal

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who formally joined the BJP, will contest against senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh from Bhopal parliamentary constituency, the BJP announced today.

"I am ready (to fight the election). There are some formalities which will be completed very soon," she told ANI after the announcement.

Sadhvi Pragya said she is confident of winning the elections against Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP and two time Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

The 2008 Malegaon blast accused had joined the BJP on Tuesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, Sadhvi Pragya, a Hindu hardliner, met with senior BJP leaders including Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Ramlal, Anil Jain, Narottam Mishra, and Prabhat Jha at the state party headquarters here.

After the meeting, Sadhvi Pragya said, "We will unitedly fight against the people who are conspiring against the nation. We will win this 'Dharm Yuddh' (crusade)."

"After spending 10 years in jail due to Congress conspiracy, I have come here to fight the political and religious war," she said.

Thakur is among the seven accused facing trial in the Malegaon blast case, wherein six people were killed and a dozen others were injured when a bomb placed on a motorcycle exploded in Maharashtra's Malegaon on September 29, 2008.

Apart from Sadhvi Pragya, the party has announced its candidates from three other seats -- KP Singh from Guna, Raj Bahadur Singh from Sagar, and Ramakant Bhargav from Vidisha, the constituency represented by outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

Polling in Madhya Pradesh will be held in the last four phases of elections and counting of votes will take place on May 23.