Bhopal: BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur on Monday waded into a fresh controversy when she claimed that the Opposition is using 'marak shakti' (killing power) to harm the BJP leaders, adding that the 'evil power' was behind the recent deaths of former Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj.

“A certain maharaj ji told me not to give up on my saadhna (meditation) as the BJP is facing a hard time and the Opposition is indulging in black magic activities to harm the efficient leadership of the BJP. Yeh hona wala hai aur aap target hai. (This is going to happen and BJP is the target),” said Thakur who spent nine years in jail for her alleged involvement in the Malegaon blasts.

“I forgot about what he said then. But our top leaders such as Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Babulal Gaur Yadav have all passed away one after the other. It has forced me to think, wasn't maharaj ji right? It is true that our leadership is leaving us untimely,” she added.

BJP veteran Arun Jaitley died on August 24 and Swaraj on August 6.

Thakur was addressing a condolence meeting at the state BJP office to pay tributes to Jaitley and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Babulal Gaur. The latter died on August 20.

She refused to talk on this issue when reporters asked about her remarks.

Pragya, who defeated Congress leader Digvijaya Singh from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, has made many such controversial remarks and had to apologise for some of them.

She was issued a show cause notice by the BJP ahead of the elections for calling Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot.

She had also claimed that the then Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare was killed in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks due to her "curse".