An incident has come to light in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi where a local leader of the ruling BJP has been accused of enticing the daughter of a Samajwadi Party leader and eloping with her recently.
On the basis of a complaint lodged by the aggrieved SP leader, the district police lodged a case against the politician and a hunt was launched to search the couple. BJP secretary of the Hardoi unit, Ashish Shukla, 45, allegedly eloped with the local SP leader’s daughter, 25, whose marriage was fixed a few days back. Both are neighbours, and Shukla, who is already married with a 21-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter, had been involved with the girl romantically for quite some time.
As the girl’s family was making preparations for her wedding, she along with Shukla eloped around a week ago, said the police sources. Meanwhile, initiating action against Shukla, the BJP state unit divested him of his organisational responsibilities and terminated his primary membership on 12 January.
According to BJP media in-charge Gangesh Pathak, Shukla had become inactive in the party for quite some time. He was expelled from the party as he was not taking interest in party activities and had indulged in behaviour contrary to the BJP’s ideology. “Now the Hardoi police are free to act against him as per the law of the land,” said the BJP spokesman.
Hardoi ASP Anil Kumar Yadav said that an FIR has been lodged against Shukla, and his relatives are being questioned about his whereabouts. “The mobile phone numbers of both Shukla and the girl have been put on electronic surveillance and they will be traced soon,” said the ASP.
On the other hand, the incident has given ammo to SP, which is spearheading a Twitter campaign against the BJP asking if that was how the daughters were safe under the BJP’s rule. SP’s former district chief Jitendra Verma threatened to take to the streets to ensure justice for the girl’s family.
The whereabouts of the expelled BJP leader remain unknown. Police sources say he can be arrested under various charges linked to luring women to malign their social image. The episode has given enough ammunition for parties to rail against each other, reads the report. (The New Indian Express)
