Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Bhopal, admitted that certain remarks she made may have displeased Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the past, resulting in her exclusion from the party’s first list of candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. She said the prime minister had then said she “will not be forgiven” for her choice of words.

“I did not seek a ticket before, and I am not seeking one now. The use of certain words in my previous statements might not have pleased Prime Minister Modi, and he had expressed that I won’t be forgiven. However, I had already apologised to him earlier,” India Today quoted Pragya Singh Thakur as saying on Sunday.

The BJP on Saturday replaced Pragya Singh Thakur, who is facing trial in the September 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, with Alok Sharma, a former mayor.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Pragya Singh Thakur gained prominence as one of the ‘giant killers’, securing victory over Congress stalwart Digvijaya Singh by an impressive margin of 3,64,822 votes. 

But despite her electoral success, Pragya Singh Thakur’s tenure has been marred by controversies. Before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, she sparked outrage by comparing Hemant Karkare, an Ashok Chakra awardee and former Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) chief, to mythological figures Ravan and Kans. Her remarks on Hemant Karkare’s death in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks further fueled controversy, leading to a show-cause notice from the Election Commission of India (ECI), prompting the BJP to distance itself from her.

Subsequently, Pragya Singh Thakur triggered another controversy by praising Nathuram Godse, Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, as a patriot. Despite issuing an apology, her statements continued to draw condemnation, including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who termed them as “extremely condemnable”.

Modi had said he would never forgive Pragya Singh Thakur for calling Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin a true patriot. “I will never be able to forgive Pragya Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi,” Modi had said.