Lok Sabha elections 2024: BJP's first list a signal for MPs with hate speech record?

livemint.com:

BJP candidates list 2024: With an ambitious target of winning 370 seats in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) took the first step on Saturday as it released its first list of candidates on 195 Lok Sabha seats across 16 states. Most of the names in the first list were along the expected lines, but some notable exclusions point towards a loud message from the BJP-hate speeches will not be tolerated.

As per the party sources, the BJP wants to completely focus on the rising stature of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in these elections, and they don't want to give any ammunition to the Opposition to target the ruling party on polarisation issues. The omission of some big names from the first list of candidates looks like a step in the same direction.

Let's take a look at 3 big names that are missing from BJP's first list and their controversial tenure. Accused in the Malegaon blast case, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur's candidature in 2019 drew huge outrage on social media with the Opposition accusing the BJP of giving tickets to “extremist leaders." The voters of Bhopal didn't agree with the Opposition and they chose Sadhvi Pragya Thakur over former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh.

Just one year into her parliamentarian career, Pragya Thakur made headlines with her objectionable remarks in favour of Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse. While she apologized for her remarks, the BJP high command remained unhappy with unnecessary negative attention.