Sengar shares space with PM Modi in advt by BJP leader

BJP was left red faced after Unnao rape accused BJP legislator Kuldeep Singh Senger figured in government advertisements with top party leaders, including prime minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

The advertisements, which was released by Ugoo Nagar Panchayat in Unnao district, from where Senger was an MLA, also had the pictures of union home minister Amit Shah and some other senior saffron party leaders.

Senger was currently lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi in connection with the alleged rape of a teen in his village last year. He was also an accused in the recent ''accident'' in Unnao in which two aunts of the rape victim were killed. The victim suffered serious injuries and was being treated at AIIMS in Delhi.

The ads were among several released by the local bodies and other government organisations on the occasion of Independence Day.

Although senior BJP leaders here found themselves at a loss to explain Senger's presence in the ads, the chairman of the Ugoo Nagar Panchayat Anuj Dixit, a senior saffron party leader, justified the same.

''There is nothing wrong in it...Kuldeep Senger is an MLA from the area,'' Dixit said.

''His (Senger) picture should not have been in the ad...it is an embarrassment for the party,'' said a senior BJP leader here on Friday.

Despite his expulsion almost a year after being charged with rape, Senger continues to enjoy support in the BJP.

Barely a few days back several senior BJP leaders, including two saffron party lawmakers, had heaped praise on the rape accused MLA and lauded his ''role'' in the development of the district.

''Respected Kuldeep Singh Senger is passing through a difficult phase but we are sure that he will come out unscathed and lead us again,'' BJP MLA from Mallawan Ashish Singh had said at the function.