Khatauli (Uttar Pradesh): Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath has said that Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former MLA from Khatauli Vikram Saini – convicted in a Muzaffarnagar riots case less than two months ago – lost his assembly membership for protecting Muzaffarnagar’s “dignity and self-respect”.
Saini was convicted by a special MP/MLA court in one of the Muzaffarnagar many riots cases and sentenced to two years in prison. After the court’s order, the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly on November 13 disqualified Saini.
Adityanath made the statement appearing to defend Saini’s role on November 30 while campaigning for Saini’s wife, Rajkumari, who has been fielded by the BJP as its candidate in the by-elections necessitated by Saini’s disqualification. Voting will take place on December 5.
Addressing a rally, the UP CM said: “Vikram Singh Saini lost his membership not because of some family issue, but because of trying to protect Muzaffarnagar’s dignity and self-respect. It was a politically motivated and fabricated case.”
The UP CM, who over the last few years has emerged as the BJP’s star campaigner for most elections because of his brazen attacks on the opposition, also alleged that the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal combine was hatching a “conspiracy” to create “Taliban rule” in the state.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here