New Delhi :
Amid the confusion over Unnao rape accused MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar's status, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Uttar Pradesh chief Swatantra Dev Singh on Thursday confirmed News Nation that he has indeed been expelled by the central leadership of the party.
"Kuldeep Singh Sengar has been expelled from the party. While the BJP state unit had suspended Sengar, the central leadership had expelled him. Kuldeep Singh Sengar has nothing to do with the BJP," Singh told News Nation.
Earlier in the day, the UP BJP cheif had said that Sengar, who is accused of raping the Unnao teen survivor, threatening her family and attempt to murder, was suspended from the party.
"Expelling someone is not in the domain of state presidents. It is the central leadership's prerogative. In Kanpur when I said he is suspended, I had no knowledge of the centre leadership decision. As of now, Sengar is expelled," he explained later.
The decision to expel Sengar, seen by many as a damage control move by the BJP, was taken after the Supreme Court ordered to transfer all the cases related to the Unnao rape case to Delhi.
It also came days after the the Unnao rape survivor and her lawyer were critically injured and two of hers aunts, who were also the key witnesses in the case, were killed after a speeding truck with its number plate painted black crushed their car.
The victim and her lawyer are in a critical condition and remain on life support for the fifth day. The family of the girl has alleged that accident was a planned conspiracy by the jsut expelled BJP MLA to eliminate the victim.
After being accused of helping the jailed MLA, the Uttar Pradesh police handed over the accident case to the CBI. The central probe agency has charged 10 people, including the lawmaker, for the murder.
The three security personnel, who were deployed for the girl's protection, were suspended after the outrage. The security personnel were not accompanying the girl at the time of the accident and questioned were also raised on their role. It was also reported that they were keeping the jailed MLA infromed about the victim's travel plan.
