UP panchayat polls: BJP withdraws candidature of Kuldeep Singh Sengar's wife

The state BJP on Sunday cancelled the ticket given to Sangeeta Sengar to contest the zilla panchayat elections in Unnao. She is the wife of former BJP MLA Kuldip Sengar who was convicted in the 2018 Unnao rape case.

Announcing the decision, BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh has asked the district unit to send a panel of three names to the state headquarters as soon as possible. Sengar was serving as zilla panchayat chairperson of Unnao since 2016 and was named by the BJP to contest from the Fatehpur Chaurasi-3 ward of Unnao.

While the party did not officially cite any reason for the withdrawal of her candidature, the announcement of Sengar’s candidature had invited flak for the party which has announced candidates for local body polls for the first time –– a win will be a major boost for the party ahead of the crucial assembly elections next year.


A BJP source said that many tickets have been cancelled, but Sengar's candidature had created a furore which could not be ignored. BJP MP from Unnao Sakshi Maharaj had visited Kuldeep Sengar in jail after the former won the constituency in the 2019 general elections.

Sengar was awarded life imprisonment by a Delhi court in December 2019 for raping a minor.