Yashomati Thakur claims threat to life for speaking against Sambhaji Bhide

Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Yashomati Thakur claimed she has received a death threat on social media for criticising Hindutva activist Sambhaji Bhide for his alleged objectionable remarks against Mahatma Gandhi, and said the state home department will be responsible if something untoward happens to her.

In a related development, the police commissioner of Amravati, where Bhide made the controversial remarks last week, said a notice has been sent to him over a complaint registered against him in the city. Thakur, the MLA from the Teosa seat in Amravati district in eastern Maharashtra, had demanded Bhide’s arrest over the remarks and allegedly used some strong words while criticising the nonagenarian right-wing activist.

Replying to an online post of the Congress MLA on the Bhide issue, a Twitter user named Kailash Suryawanshi warned Thakur “she will face the same fate as (rationalist) Narendra Dabholkar. Dabholkar, a well-known anti-superstition activist, was shot dead in Pune in August 2013. Thakur, speaking to the media, confirmed receiving death threat on Twitter and asserted she will not stop speaking over the Bhide issue and alleged the ruling coalition was behind the entire episode.