New Delhi: Sangeeta Sengar, the wife of former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar who was, found guilty of raping a minor girl in 2017, has been included in the BJP’s list of panchayat poll candidates.According to a report in the Indian Express, the BJP on Thursday released its list of panchayat poll candidates for five districts including the names of 51 candidates for different Zila Panchayat wards in Unnao.
Sangeeta has been given a ticket from the Fatehpur Chaurasi Tritaya seat for the Zila Panchayat member. She had previously held the position of the Zila Panchayat chairman from Unnao district since 2016.
Back then, panchayat elections were not contested on a political party’s symbol. However this time, to avoid confusion and consolidate maximum support at the grassroots level, political parties, including the BJP, have decided to officially declare their candidates.Every single day, candidates are being declared from selected districts. On Thursday, the nominees for the districts of Unnao, Mau, Balrampur, Basti and Kushinagar were declared.The Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections 2021 are scheduled to be conducted in four phases starting on April 15 and the results are expected to be declared on May 2.
During the bypolls in the Bangarmau assembly constituency, Sangeeta Sengar had reportedly made regular appearances at public meetings and had campaigned in support of BJP’s candidate Srikant Katiyar. She also issued appeals on social media, seeking votes for Katiyar. This time around, senior party leaders are expected to campaign for her as well as for other candidates.
Her candidature, as per party sources, was approved by senior state party leaders, including state BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh and state general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal at a meeting held recently.Kuldeep Singh Sengar had won the state assembly elections from the Bangarmau seat of Unnao in 2017 and was a four-time MLA. The seat fell vacant after he was convicted in the rape case and was expelled from the party.
He was arrested in April 2018 – for allegedly gangraping a girl, then a minor aged 17, in June 2017 on the promise that they will help her get a job – after the survivor and her family attempted to commit suicide by self-immolation outside Adityanath’s residence in Lucknow after failing to get rape charges framed against Sengar.
However, Sengar was only expelled by the BJP in August 2019. Even after his removal, BJP leaders spoke in his defence and residents of Unnao held a rally in his support.Three of the victim’s relatives have lost their lives during their quest for justice. Sengar and his associates have also been accused of murdering the woman’s father while he was in police custody because of a false case in April 2018, and attempting to take the life of the woman in a hit-and-run case in July 2019. Two of the woman’s relatives were killed in the accident.
