The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday distanced itself from the controversial comment made by its Bhopal candidate Pragya Thakur on late former Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare.
Claiming Thakur's remarks are personal, the saffron party said she might have made that statement because of the “mental and physical torture she had faced”.
"The BJP considers him (Karkare) a martyr. This is Sadhvi Pragya's personal statement which she might have given because of the mental and physical torture she had faced," the party said in a statement.
Karkare was killed in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. At a party meeting on Thursday, Thakur allegedly said the IPS officer was killed because of her “curse”.
Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, said Karkare had tortured and abused her severely, therefore she had cursed him.
The BJP leader's comment had triggered a storm with the IPS Association taking to Twitter to condemn her statement.
The Election Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of Thakur's statement.
