Pragya Singh Thakur, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) candidate from Bhopal, has told the Election Commission of India that her temple visits do not constitute political campaigning.

Her comments came after the Congress complained to the EC that she was campaigning despite the 72-hour ban on her for the violation of the model code of conduct.

The EC imposed a 72-hour ban on her for her comments regarding the demolition of Babri Masjid. In an interview to TV9 earlier this month, she had expressed her pride in bringing down the Mughal-era mosque.

The ban came into effect from Thursday 6 am and ended on Saturday morning. However, during the period, she visited several temples and sang devotional songs.

The EC served her a notice, querying about her temple visits during the ban, which it concluded to be a continuation of her political campaigning.

However, she contends that her visits do not violate the EC ban as she did not invite anyone and did not campaign in any way.

Thakur is contesting from Bhopal against the Congress’ Digvijaya Singh. The constituency votes in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 12.

First Published:May 5, 2019 12:02 PM IST