NEW DELHI – A firebrand Hindu nationalist nun facing terrorism charges overthe deadly bombing of a mosque has been elected to Indian parliament, aweek after Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned her for celebrating theassassin of independence hero Mahatma Gandhi.
Sadhvi Pragya Thakur is accused of participating in the 2008 attack thatkilled six people and injured more than 100 others.
She spent nine years in detention over the charge and is still awaiting atrial for terrorism and criminal conspiracy after being bailed in 2017.
But the 49-year-old won an emphatic victory for Modi’s right-wing BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) in results announced Thursday, taking 62 percent of thevote for a seat in the central industrial city of Bhopal.
Thakur only joined the BJP in April and the party stunned many when itnamed her as a parliamentary candidate the next month.
She courted controversy throughout the campaign, telling journalists thatthe radical Hindu assassin of Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi was a”patriot”.
Thakur also raised eyebrows for claiming that drinking cow urine had helpedcure her cancer and extolling the benefits of drinking a concoction ofmilk, butter and cow dung.
The opposition Congress party, which made a pitiable showing in theelection, have denounced her as symbolic of the rise of extreme Hindunationalism in India under Modi.
Modi was forced to admonish Thakur as a backlash grew over her comments onGandhi’s assassin, only days after publicly backing her candidature.
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“She apologised publicly for the comments, but I won’t forgive her at apersonal level,” Modi said in a TV interview.
But the BJP has usually defended Thakur, with party president Amit Shahcalling the terrorism charges against her “fake”.
Police say her motorbike was used to carry the explosives used in the 2008attack and that she took part in a key planning meeting before it wasstaged.
The trial dragged on in India’s notoriously slow legal system and electionrules allow anyone to stand for office as long as there is no conviction.Some of the other candidates face murder charges.
The charges had little impact on Bhopal voters, many of whom soughtblessings from Thakur at her public events.
Thakur said her win over her Congress rival in Bhopal was a “victory ofright over wrong”. -APP/AFP
