Ex-BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar's Wife Gets Ticket From Party For UP Panchayat Elections

The jailed former MLA's wife, Sangeeta Singh Sengar will contest from Fatehpur Chaurasi Tritaya seat on a BJP ticket. Starting from April 15, the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Election will be conducted in four phases and the results are to be declared on May 2.

Sangeeta's husband Kuldeep Singh Sengar was accused of raping a woman from Unnao in June 2017, on pretext of offering her a job. The survivor was 17-year-old when the assault took place. A case in the incident was only filed in 2018, after the woman went public with her accusations.  In August 2019, BJP went on to expell him from the party following nationwide outrage.

Sengar was convicted for the rape on December 16, 2019 and awarded life imprisonment by the Delhi court on December 20, 2019. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh on him.

Sengar was convicted under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 5 (c) and 6 of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Read more on that here.

UP Panchayat elections, which are being fought for the first time on political party tickets in 2021, is seeing some interesting cadidates in the fray.A 2015 Miss India contestant and model named Diksha Singh announced her candicacy earlier this month from Ward No. 26 of Baksha Development Block in Jaunpur district. She took the decision to venture into politics after the said seat was reserved for women, thus quashing her father's candidacy from the ward.

In Kanpur, an 81-year-old woman named Rani Devi will be contesting the polls from Chaubepur. "At this age, neither I have greed for any post, nor I am here to at the behest of any political party. I have decided on my own to contest the poll for overall development of my village," said the octogenarian about her decision to contest the polls. Read more on her here.

Another candidate who has made headlines during the polls is Sandhya Yadav, niece of Samajwadi Party founder and former UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. She will be fighting from Mainpuri on a BJP ticket.

Picture Credit: India Today