Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s MLA from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, who is facing charges of gangrape, has a smooth electoral record albeit with different political parties.
An 18-year-old woman alleged that she was raped by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his brothers. On Monday morning, her father died in police custody in Unnao, prompting her to charge that he was killed inside jail at the behest of the lawmaker.
The development comes as a huge embarrassment for the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government which is facing mounting pressure to sack Sengar, who based on his history, will promptly switch sides if axed by the BJP.
Kuldeep Singh Sengar – An Efficient Turncoat
Sengar, 51, is a resident of Makhi in Unnao district. He won the region’s Bangarmau Vidhan Sabha seat in 2017 elections by nearly 30,000 votes.
This wasn’t the first time Sengar found electoral success. However, his early victories were not with the BJP. After starting his political career with the Youth Congress, Sengar soon moved to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Known in the political circles for being a turncoat, Sengar won the Unnao seat on a BSP ticket in 2002. Later in 2007, he contested from the Bangarmau seat on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket and won.
He took another shot as an SP candidate in Bhagwant Nagar constituency in 2012 and won again. He joined the BJP last year and claimed Bangarmau again.
Sengar is considered a close associate of independent MLA (Kunda) Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya, The Indian Express reported.
“Sengar also gets votes of Muslims. He is the most influential Thakur leader in the entire district. With the combination of Muslims and Thakurs and some other upper castes, he wins the polls,” the English daily quoted a BJP leader as saying.
It’s a Conspiracy by “Nimn Star Ke Log”: Sengar
In the Unnao gangrape case, Kuldeep Singh Sengar on 9 April, rejected the charge as a conspiracy by his opponents. He further said that the complainant belonged to a "low class".
"Yeh nimn star ke log hain (They are low-status people)... This is a conspiracy by my opponents," Sengar told reporters, but refused to comment on speculations over him being summoned by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
"Let a probe be conducted, and the guilty be given stringent punishment. If I am found guilty in the probe, I am ready to face punishment," he said.
(This article was originally published on Quint Hindi.)
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