Sadhvi Pragya attributes top BJP leaders’ deaths to ‘marak shakti’

Bhopal: Bhopal’s BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur on Monday attributed the recent deaths of party stalwarts and former Union ministers Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley to ‘black magic’ by the Opposition.

Pragya, an accused in the 2006 Malegaon blast that killed seven people and injured over 100, literally left party colleagues in a state of shock when she recounted how a particular ‘maharaj’ warned her that the Opposition had unleashed marak shakti (supernatural power to kill) on the BJP veterans.

“Maharajji advised me not to compromise with my saadhna or meditation since the Opposition was trying to cast an evil spell on the BJP to weaken its leadership. The BJP is currently facing a hard time because of black magic practiced by the Opposition,” she said while paying tribute to the memories of Jaitley as well as former chief minister Babulal Gaur, who passed away last week.

“Yeh hone wala hai aur aap target hai (This is going to happen and you people will be the target),” the religious leader reportedly said.

Pragya did not take the warning seriously then. But she now believed his admonitions following the demise of Jaitley, Gaur and Swaraj in the span of almost a fortnight — on August 24, August 20 and August 6, respectively.

Senior party leaders such as former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state party president Rakesh Singh, Union minister Fagan Singh Kulaste and BJP national vice-president Prabhat Jha were present on the occasion.

Congress spokesperson Shobha Ojha condemned her statement. “Pragya should be sent to mental asylum for making such outrageous comments,” she said.

Pragya had earlier landed in controversy for saying, during her parliamentary election campaign, that her curse had led to the death of Maharashtra police officer Hemant Karkare during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.