"Why is the BJP not cancelling the nomination of Pragya Thakur?" Mayawati tweeted.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati today questioned the Election Commission for not acting against Pragya Thakur, the 2008 Malegaon blast accused and the BJP candidate from Bhopal. The saffron-wearing politician has already been served two notices by the election watchdog for her controversial comments.
"Malegoan blast case accused and BJP candidate from Bhopal Sadhvi Pragya is claiming that she is contesting a ''dharm yuddh''. This is the real face of BJP/RSS which is being exposed continuously. But why is the Commission only issuing notices and not cancelling the nomination of BJP ratna (gem) Pragya?" Ms Mayawati tweeted in Hindi.
Pragya Thakur, 49, is one of the main accused in the 2008 Malegaon and is taking on Congress's Digvijaya Singh in Bhopal, a seat that has voted BJP for the last three decades. Many accuse the BJP of trying to polarise voters by fielding her.
The election body served her two notices - one for her remark that she had "cursed" 26/11 hero Hemant Karkare and the second, for saying in an interview that she was among the people who demolished the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992 and that she was "proud" of it.
The BJP candidate had retracted her statement on Hemant Karkare after it drew severe criticism.
Mayawati, who is taking on the BJP along with Akhilesh Yadav, tweeted, "If the Election Commission is not able to work in an impartial manner to the satisfaction of people despite severe criticism in the media, it is an issue of grave concern for democracy and no one else but BJP and PM Modi, who are surrounded by serious electoral allegations."
Pragya Thakur, who calls herself a "sadhvi", was reportedly told by the BJP today steer clear of controversial statements and stick to stories of her alleged torture in jail.