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BJP replaces zilla parishad chief candidate after Unnao rape victim’s objection
LUCKNOW/KANPUR: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday changed its candidate for the zilla parishad chairman’s post from Unnao after the victim in the 2017 rape case objected to the party’s choice, alleging he was “very close” to former MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was convicted for the crime
LUCKNOW/KANPUR: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday changed its candidate for the zilla parishad chairman’s post from Unnao after the victim in the 2017 rape case objected to the party’s choice, alleging he was “very close” to former MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was convicted for the crime.
Former BJP MLC Ajeet Singh’s wife Shakun Singh was hurriedly named as the new candidate after state BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh ordered party’s Unnao district chief Raj Kishore Rawat to replace Arun Singh, a former block pramukh.
“On directions of the party leadership, the candidature of Arun Singh has been cancelled. Now Shakun Singh, wife of the late former MLA Ajit Singh, will be the party candidate for the district panchyat chairperson,” Rawat said in a statement.
The party’s decision came after the rape victim appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath in this regard.
She thanked the PM and CM on Thursday for instantly dropping Singh’s name as the candidate for chairmanship.
On Wednesday night, Rawat had declared that Arun Singh, who is the son-in-law of state minister Ranvendra Pratap Singh, would be the party’s candidate for the zila panchayat chairperson’s post from Unnao.
After the announcement, Singh even came to the district BJP office where he was felicitated by some party workers on Thursday. But the scenario changed after the Unnao rape victim’s appeal to the top BJP leadership.
In her appeal, the rape victim said that Arun Singh was one of the co-accused in the case registered in connection with the accident involving her car on July 28, 2019, in which her two aunts were killed while she and her lawyer were critically injured.
Claiming he was being framed, Singh had that the Central Bureau of Investigation, which was probing the case, had given him a clean chit. He said he would write to the state government against those who had dragged his name into the controversy.
The BJP had in April replaced Kuldeep Sengar’s wife Sangeeta as the party candidate for the zila panchayat ward member 22 after a similar uproar against her candidature.
On Thursday, shortly before the UP BJP chief ordered the Unnao district unit to replace Singh, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said, “I think the party would be taking an appropriate decision.”
Earlier, in a viral video, the rape victim had alleged that local BJP functionaries were supporting those who were plotting to eliminate her.
She had said that her complaints against her abuse were not acted upon by the police due to the influence of Sengar, a four-time lawmaker.
Sengar, a former BJP MLA from Unnao’s Bangarmau seat, was accused of rape by the victim in 2017. A Delhi court had sentenced Sengar to life imprisonment in the case in December 2019.
In March 2020, a special court sentenced Sengar, his brother Atul Singh and five others to 10 years’ imprisonment in two cases linked to the death of the Unnao rape victim’s father in 2018.
Kuldeep Sengar was expelled from the BJP and disqualified as member of state assembly after the trial court convicted him.
Meanwhile, Shakun Singh thanked the party for her nomination. “I am grateful to the leadership,” she said.
The election for the zila panchayat chairperson would be held on July 3.
