The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday nominated Sangeeta
Sengar, wife of rape-convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar, as a candidate for the upcoming
Panchayat polls in the state. Sengar, who had his membership cancelled after
the conviction, was expelled from the party afterwards.

Sangeeta Sengar has been given a party ticket from the
Fatehpur Chaurasi Tritaya seat, and is the currently outgoing Zila Parishad
Chairperson of Unnao.

Also read: No ‘paribartan’ in West Bengal under Trinamool Congress: Yogi Adityanath

A list of total 51 candidates were released for Zila
Parishad wards in Unnao.

Sangeeta Sengar – who became Zila Parishad Chairman from the
Unnao district in 2016 – had campaigned for fellow BJP candidate Srikant
Katiyar contesting from the Bangarmau constituency during 2016 bypolls. She
would this time see senior party leaders campaign for her.

A major difference between the previous election and the upcoming
polls would lie in the political sides fielding candidates on party symbols,
something that not followed in the 2016 elections.

The move, presumably, has been due to avoid any confusion on
the voters’ part in the Panchayat election level.

Also read: HC grants interim anticipatory bail to Mumbai journalist accused of rape

Kuldeep Sengar, notably, had contested from and won the
Bangarmau seat in the 2017 assembly elections. The seat, however, fell vacant
after his conviction and subsequent expulsion, leading to the bypolls being conducted.

Sengar had been convicted of raping a minor and trying to
implicate her father in a false case, with the latter dying in prison due to
injuries caused by assault.

He was fined Rs 10 lakh and was served with a 10-year prison
sentence in 2019.