Sengar 'expelled' but no confirmation from BJP

Facing public outrage, BJP leaders on Thursday claimed that the party has expelled its jailed Uttar Pradesh lawmaker Kuldeep Sengar, accused of raping a minor girl from Unnao two years ago and killing two members of her family.

However, the party refused to go on record to confirm the expulsion. Usually disciplinary action against a leader is not kept under wraps so as to send out a strong message, more so as Sengar is accused of heinous crimes like rape and murder.

The party had recently announced expulsion of its Uttarakhand MLA Pranav Singh Champion on disciplinary ground after a video of him dancing with firearms in hand surfaced.

A party leader earlier in the day said that Sengar had been expelled, claiming that the saffron organisation cannot be associated with an accused like him.

He was suspended from the party earlier.

Some BJP leaders welcomed his expulsion with its MP Hema Malini saying that the party has done well to expel him.

However, an official communication confirming the expulsion remained unavailable.

A four-term MLA, Sengar, who represents Bangarmau in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, is an influential Thakur leader in the region and enjoys backing of a strong section of BJP leaders.

He was arrested on April 13 last year after a woman accused him of raping her at his residence in 2017 when she was a minor.

Public anger over the matter exploded after he was accused of orchestrating a road accident to kill her on Sunday.

She and her lawyer were critically injured while two of her aunts killed when their car was hit by a speeding truck in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli district.

The family alleges the accident was an attempt to eliminate her and the family.

There has been raging public anger since the incident with major political parties coming down hard on the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh and asking for accountability.

On Tuesday, the Centre handed the case to the CBI on the recommendation of the Uttar Pradesh government.

The CBI has booked 10 people for murder, including Sengar, who is already in jail on charges of raping the young Unnao woman.

The condition of the Unnao rape survivor and her lawyer, who were admitted to the King George Medical University in Lucknow, is stable but both are on ventilator support, doctors said.

Three security personnel tasked with protecting the rape survivor were suspended on Thursday on charges of dereliction of duty, police in Unnao said.