U'khand BJP expels ex-MLA accused of ‘double marriage' from party for 6 yrs
Haridwar: Former BJP MLA from Jwalapur in Haridwar, Suresh Rathore, was on Saturday expelled by his party for six years. The move followed controversy over the ex-legislator's "second marriage" to Saharanpur-based actress Urmila Sanawar, even though he was still legally wedded to his first wife.
The issue gained traction after opposition Congress accused the govt of turning a blind eye to its own partymen who were violating the recently-rolled out
Uniform Civil Code
(UCC) which criminalises polygamy.
Notably, some days ago, Rathore, 60, had purportedly publicly introduced Sanawar as his "second wife". But after receiving a disciplinary notice from BJP's Uttarakhand unit, Rathore seemed to make a U-turn. Earlier this week, he claimed that the widely-shared images of what appeared to be his wedding with Sanawar were actually scenes from a film project 'Bhabhi Ji Vidhayak Hai', "which he was producing".
BJP state general secretary Rajendra Bisht told TOI: "We were not satisfied with his explanation, and therefore the party decided to expel him for six years with immediate effect."
Rathore, meanwhile, said, "I gave 45 years to the party, and the state unit did not listen to my side and took a biased action. I'll appeal before the central leadership against my expulsion."
A veteran Dalit leader in the party, Rathore had fought three assembly polls in the past.
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In 2017, he won from Jwalapur (reserved) seat. A few years ago, he proclaimed himself as "Guru Ravidas Acharaya", and sought to become mahamandleshwar of Niranjani akhara during the Kumbh Mela 2021.
In 2021, ahead of the 2022 assembly polls, a woman party worker levelled rape charges against him, but at that time, he filed a case against that worker for blackmailing, and police arrested her.
Taking a dig at the latest controversy involving the ex-MLA, Congress spokesperson Garima Mehra Dasauni said, "Uttarakhand is the first in the country to implement UCC and BJP's ex-MLA is the first person who violated the UCC norms. This shows that the UCC's clauses are completely impractical, and BJP govt should analyse it seriously."
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