On the last day of campaigning in Bhopal, the Sangh Parivar machinery worked full-time to ensure BJP candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur’s victory in the prestigious seat.
Sangh considers the fight against Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh is an ideological battle, and alleges that it was Singh who coined the term “Hindu terror” to tarnish Thakur, an accused in terrorism-related cases.
After a 72-hour ban by the Election Commission on her from campaigning, Thakur and the Sangh camp consciously targeted Singh.
In her speeches and interviews, Thakur held Singh personally responsible for targeting her over “saffron terror”, while alleging that she was arrested for being a “seer”and “patriot”.
Singh’s argument that the former Home Secretary, BJP leader RK Singh, who had coined the term Hindu terror, did not go down well with the BJP.
“Singh is standing isolated in Bhopal. No one from the Congress high command came to campaign for him. He sought help from people like former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and actress Swara Bhaskar to run his show. Singh didn't reply to any of the questions posed by us on the issue of ‘Hindu terror’,” said BJP spokesman Praveen Napit.
Rallying support
The BJP held roadshows and rallies by senior leaders such as Amit Shah, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Nitin Gadkari and Uma Bharti in support of Thakur.
The entire Sangh apparatus — comprising organisations such as the ABVP, the VHP, the Bajrang Dal and the Yuva Morcha — made squads to visit houses and campaign for Thakur.
“BJP and Sangh workers from other States also reached Bhopal to help Thakur. This has become an ideological battle for us,” Napit added.
The party believes that the terror charges against Thakur and the presence of Singh have helped in consolidating the Hindutva base of the constituency.
The BJP also tried to “expose” the presence of seers in Singh’s campaigns.
“He was trying to project himself as a bigger Hindu than Thakur. People understand that he is doing such things just to get votes. He is not ready for a political fight,” the BJP spokesman added.
To attract farmers, the BJP used the issue of closure of a sugar mill near Sheohar.
Overall, the party hopes that whatever be the charges against Thakur, the BJP narrative will help the party to win the seat for the ninth time in a row.
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