MUMBAI: Congress and NCP have deployed their big guns to campaign in
Bhopal
against Malegaon blasts accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who is contesting the
Lok Sabha
polls against former
Madhya Pradesh
chief minister Digvijaya Singh.
The Congress team will be led by state party president Ashok Chavan, party general secretary Mukul Wasnik and former minister Naseem Khan, while NCP will be represented by former deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal, spokesperson Nawab Malik and Thane legislator Jeetendra Awhad.
Bhopal has been held by BJP for a long time. Way back in 1984, it was won by senior Congress leader K N Singh, but in the next polls, BJP wrested the seat from Congress and has retained it since.
Bhujbal is expected to address more than three meetings, while Awhad and Malik will be camping in Bhopal till the end of campaigning on May 10. Chavan, Khan and Wasnik are expected to address a few meetings in Bhopal.
After her surprise nomination from Bhopal by BJP, Thakur launched a frontal attack on senior IPS officer Hemant Karkare, who was killed in the 26/11 terrorist attacks, drawing condemnation from both Congress and NCP. Chavan and Bhujbal have said her comments clearly reflect the true face of BJP. “Prima facie, it appears that BJP is justifying her actions and statements. It was unfortunate that she made uncalled-for comments against an honest and efficient police officer,” said Chavan.
In fact,
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, though from BJP, had admitted that it was wrong on Thakur’s part to denigrate Karkare, who was an officer of high integrity. Fadnavis too is campaigning in Madhya Pradesh, but there was no information on whether he will campaign for Thakur. On Monday, Fadnavis campaigned for BJP nominee K L Lalwani, who is contesting from Indore, in the presence of former Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan.