Kuldeep a turncoat who derived muscle power from brother
KANPUR: BJP MLA from Bangarmau in Unnao Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who is in the eye of the storm for allegedly raping an 18-year-old girl last year, tirelessly built the image of a ‘bahubali’ politician for himself by siding with the party in power.
The four-time MLA has been a turncoat and every time he contested an election, he chose a new party and a new seat.
Though Kuldeep has no criminal background, he got his muscle power from his brother Atul Singh Sengar, 42.
Atul rose to infamy on July 18, 2004, when he allegedly shot at the then additional superintendent of police Ramlal Verma following a dispute with him.
A case was registered against him at Ganga Ghat police station but the police officer chose to arrive at a compromise within five days of the incident. Verma was shot at when he was reportedly trying to stop illegal mining.
Atul’s name also cropped up in a case where he allegedly opened fire on the father of a journalist working with a Hindi newspaper in Danakhori area of Unnao in 2014. The fault of the scribe’s father was that he had taken umbrage to his activities in an alleged drunken state.
The journalist and his family later patched up with him.
Atul has four cases against him in Unnao and one in Kanpur. His brother Manoj also has criminal cases against him.
Kuldeep, a class 12 pass from Raja Shankar Sahay Inter College in Unnao, started his political career with the Congress and became the pradhan of Makhi village in Unnao in 1997-98.
In 2002, he contested assembly election as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate from Unnao Sadar constituency and emerged victorious.
He joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) in 2007 and won from Bangarmau assembly seat.
Kuldeep again changed his seat to Bhagwant Nagar in Unnao in 2012 and contested the election as a Samajwadi Party candidate. Before the 2017 assembly election, he joined the BJP and once again won from Bangarmau seat.
The BJP fielded senior leader Hriday Narayan Dixit from Bhagwant Nagar seat.
He brought his brother Manoj Sengar to political scene who won block pramukh election. Kuldeep’s wife Sangeeta Sengar was elected chairperson of Unnao zila panchayat during the SP regime, a position she still holds.
An Unnao-based political analyst Shailendra Shukla said, “Kuldeep has positioned himself a prominent Thakur leader in Brahmin-dominated Unnao. He has a good hold on Muslim votes and also enjoys the support of other upper castes. He has considerable support among lower caste voters too. His formula to win the election is high social presence.”
While Kuldeep is a full-time politician, his brothers Manoj and Atul work to maintain his image of a ‘bahubali’ leader.
Both Manoj and Atul have several criminal cases lodged against them.
“His family is feared in the region because of Manoj and Atul, who manage the muscle and money power of the family,” said a senior police officer posted in Unnao.