'Pragya Thakur’s candidature exposes BJP's double standards on terrorism'

JALANDHAR: Attacking the BJP over the nomination of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur as party candidate from Bhopal, the Sikh group Dal Khalsa said it is a clear case of double standards of the Modi government on terrorism.

“On one hand, the Indian state wants the whole world and the UNSC to declare

Masood Azhar

as a global terrorist and on the other, BJP is honouring a known hate-monger and Muslim-baiter Sadhvi Pragya Thakur with a ticket to reach the Indian Parliament,” said Dal Khalsa leader Harcharanjit Singh Dhami in a statement issued on Thursday.

“Giving her nomination is like the Congress party honouring the Pandey brothers with nomination to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly after they hijacked a flight in favour of the then Congress chief Indira Gandhi, in the late seventies. Pragya Singh Thakur’s candidature was a reminder that the BJP was determined to make the country a Hindu India. The BJP is hell bent to play the

Hindutva

card to retain power, come what may,” he said.

He said that for the BJP, anti-minority faces like her were assets which helped it to consolidate majority votes. “Polarizing or dividing the country on communal and caste lines has always been BJP’s agenda but now it has come to the fore even more brazenly under the tutelage of Modi and Shah,” he said.

Taking a jibe at BJP alliance partner Shiromani Akali Dal, Dal Khalsa leader asked, “Can Akali Dal dare to field any Khalistani militant as their official nominee..?"