Reacting to BJP high command not fielding her for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Bhopal MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur admitted that PM Modi's displeasure over her certain remarks in the past may have played a role in getting dropped from the candidates' list.
Pragya told India Today TV that she never sought the election ticket and said that she accepts the party's decision.
"I did not seek a ticket before, and I am not seeking one now. The use of certain words in my previous statements might not have pleased Prime Minister Modi, and he had expressed that I won't be forgiven. However, I had already apologised to him earlier."
She is among the current 33 BJP MPs who were snubbed from the first list of 195 candidates.
Pragya, who is an accused in the Malegaon blast case, has been replaced by former mayor Alok Sharma.
Pragya has been hogging the limelight for all the wrong reasons ever since she was elected as a parliamentarian.
Before the 2019 elections, she stirred controversy by equating Hemant Karkare, an Ashok Chakra awardee and former Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) chief, to mythological figures Ravan and Kans.
At an event in December 2022, Pragya Thakur sparked controversy by asserting that Hindus have the right to safeguard themselves and respond to those who assault them and their dignity.
But what made BJP embarrassed is when she referred Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot.
The remarks drew wide condemnation, with PM Modi saying that he would never pardon her.
"I will never be able to forgive Pragya Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi," the Prime Minister had said.
Also read | BJP drops Pragya Thakur, fields Alok Sharma from Bhopal for 2024 Lok Sabha polls