Delhi: After receiving a show-cause notice issued by the Election Commission over her remarks on 26/11 Mumbai terror attack martyr Hemant Karkare, Bharatiya Janta Party's (BJP) Bhopal candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur replied to the poll body saying that she "did not defame any martyr".
The Malegaon blast accused in her reply to the ECI said, “I didn’t make any defamatory comments for any martyr. I had mentioned about the torture inflicted on me on orders of the then Congress government. It’s my right to put before the public what had happened to me.”
"I have already taken back my statement respecting the sentiments of the people," she said in her reply insisting that she did not make any comment which violated the Model Code of Conduct.
She further accused the media of contorting her statements.
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Addressing BJP workers on Thursday, Thakur had claimed that Karkare died during the attack as she had "cursed" him for torturing her when he probed the blast case as chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad."I called Hemant Karkare and asked him to let me go if there is no evidence (against me). He said that he will bring evidence but will not leave me. I told him - you will be ruined," she had said on April 19.
After receiving severe backlash from all quarters for her controversial comments on Karkare, Thakur on Friday took back her statement and apologised saying she "felt that the enemies of the country were being benefited from it, therefore, I take back my statement and apologise for it,"
Meanwhile, the EC has served another show-cause notice to Thakur for her remark that she was proud of her participation in demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
Thakur made the controversial remark while speaking to a television channel. After getting the EC show-cause notice, Thakur said she stood by her remark and that the notice would be replied to in accordance with the law.
In her television interaction, Thakur had said, "Ram Mandir hum banayenge aur bhavya banayenge, hum todne gaye the dhancha, maine chadhkar toda tha dhancha, iss par mujhe bhayankar garv hai. Mujhe Ishwar ne shakti di thi humne desh ka kalank mitaya hai (A grand Ram temple will be built. I had gone to demolish the structure and had climbed atop it to break the structure. I am tremendously proud of it. God gave me strength to wipe off a blot on this country)."
She is expected to file her nomination from Bhopal on April 23. Bhopal will go to polls on May 12. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.
