Sadhvi Pragya Thakur to contest on BJP ticket; Congress' Digvijay Singh welcomes her to 'peaceful' Bhopal

Malegaon blast case accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur on Wednesday formally joined the BJP and will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Bhopal. She is set to face former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh who has been fielded by Congress from the parliamentary constituency.

"Hum tayar hain, ab ussi karya mein lag gayi hun (I am ready and have begun working towards it," Sadhvi Pragya told ANI after the announcement on her candidature.

She also promised national security will be the main focus if voted to power.

"National security will be the main issue. We will strengthen as well as develop the nation and get Hindutva its due respect," Sadhvi said.

Terming her candidature as a warning to those "who speak out against the nation", Sadhvi said, "The Congress has associated 'Hindutva' with terrorism. This will cost them very dearly in the elections."

To the question of NIA's ongoing investigation against her, Sadhvi said, "I have been given a clean chit by the court. All conspiracies of the Congress have failed. The Congress government not only tortured me. It tortured a woman ascetic and this shows the condition of women under the Congress rule."

Congress candidate from Bhopal, Digvijay Singh, in a tweet welcomed her by saying, "I welcome her in Bhopal. Hope you like the peaceful, educated and civilised atmosphere of the city."

"I pray to Maa (goddess) Narmada for Sadhviji and seek bless blessing from Narmadaji (holy river) so that we all walk the path of truth, non-violence and religion. Narmada Har (glory be to the Narmada)," Singh said in a twitter post.

Sadhvi Pragya said, "This is a Dharmyuddha (A religious war). People who are not righteous and don't have morality will be defeated."

Reacting to Sadhvi Pragya's induction into the BJP, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti posted on twitter: "Imagine the anger if I'd field a terror accused. Channels would've gone berserk by now trending a mehboobaterrorist hashtag! According to these guys terror has no religion when it comes to saffron fanatics but otherwise all Muslims are terrorists. Guilty until proven innocent".

To this statement by Mufti, Sadhvi retorted" "Terrorists can never call others patriotic."

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, BJP on Wednesday 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.