Bhopal BJP MP Pragya Thakur has stepped into another controversy, this time, over her vaccination at home. In a video posted on Twitter, Thakur can be seen taking her first vaccine, reported NDTV.
According to the report, Thakur was entitled for home vaccination under special rules for the “elderly and the disabled”.
"It is as per the policy, elderly and disabled will be vaccinated near their homes. So rules were not violated in giving her the first dose of vaccine," reported NDTV, quoting Santosh Shukla, state immunisation officer.
However, the controversy emerged when the opposition Congress criticised Thakur for using the concession after videos of her playing basketball and dancing at a wedding emerged earlier.
"Our Bhopal MP Pragya Thakur, who – only a few days ago – was playing basketball and dancing to the beats of a dhol, had a team go to her house to vaccinate her? When all BJP leaders, from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan, went to hospitals for their shot, why the exception for her," criticised Congress spokesperson Narendra Saluja in a tweet on 14 July.
The videos are drawing taunts from the Opposition, as the BJP leader, who's an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, had earlier excused herself from physical appearance before a special NIA court, citing ill health.
She had been hospitalised several times. In March 2021, she was airlifted from New Delhi to Mumbai, after she complained of breathing issues.
Thakur in May claimed that she was not infected with the coronavirus because she regularly drinks cow urine. She said she will continue to be safe as long as she consumes 'gaumutra'.
In the Malegaon blast, six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon in north Maharashtra.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)