Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Bhopal Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur on Monday slammed the media for allegedly distorting her remarks after the party dropped her name from the first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Sadhvi Pragya Singh, accusing the mediapersons of defaming her, refused to entertain any questions from the journalists regarding the BJP’s decision of not fielding her from the Bhopal seat.

The Hindutva activist was talking to media who went to her residence to seek reactions to reports in a section of media that she was denied a BJP ticket from Bhopal because certain controversial comments she made in the past may have displeased Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Whatever we speak, you people show it in a distorted and twisted manner. I don’t like such things, neither earlier nor today. From today onwards, I will not speak to the media as you people have been defaming me for the last five years (after she became an MP) to raise your TRP ratings,” news agency PTI quoted Sadhvi Pragya Singh as saying.

Sadhvi Pragya Singh is among the 33 sitting BJP MPs whose names were missing from the party’s first list of 195 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections released last week. From Bhopal, the party has fielded former city Mayor Alok Sharma.

Earlier speaking to India Today about the BJP’s decision, Sadhvi Pragya Singh said, “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 wouldn’t be forgiven. However, I had already apologised to him earlier.”

Now, Sadhvi Pragya Singh urged the media to refer to the video she posted on her Facebook over the party’s decision soon after the first list of the candidates was released.

“I have posted the original video on Facebook. That is the original video. By defaming me, you won’t be able to earn anything,” the Lok Sabha member said, adding from today onwards, she will not talk to journalists and whatever she wants to convey, she will use her “own media” for the purpose.

In the video, Sadhvi Pragya Singh is seen saying that the party is supreme and she respects the decision. Sadhvi Pragya Singh in her maiden parliamentary elections in 2019, had defeated Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh by a margin of over 3.64 lakh votes.

The Bhopal MP, who is one of the accused in the Malegaon blast case, is known for her controversial statements. In May 2019, she had stoked a controversy for lauding Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a ‘true patriot’.

Modi had then said that he would never forgive Sadhvi Pragya Singh for calling Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin a true patriot. “I will never be able to forgive Pragya Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi,” he had said.

(With inputs from PTI)