Sakshi Maharaj,Sidhu’s wife in BJP list

Controversial former MP Sakshi Maharaj,who faced rape charges and was also expelled from the Rajya Sabha for misuse of MPLAD funds,and Navjot Kaur Sidhu,wife of ex-cricketer and Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu are among those who will be contesting as BJP candidates in the coming Assembly elections in five states.

The decision to field Sakshi Maharaj from Bhongaon in western UP comes in the backdrop of the raging controversy over induction of another tainted former minister Babu Singh Kushwaha,who was expelled from the BSP. A Lodh OBC leader who was in the BJP earlier but had moved to the SP and other regional groups,Sakshi Maharaj’s re-entry has been done with an eye on the Lodh votes. As a SP Rajya Sabha member,he had faced rape charges and spent time in Tihar jail but was exonerated because of lack of evidence.

Maharaj is among the 77 candidates BJP declared for the Uttar Pradesh polls today. The party also announced 12 candidates for Manipur and candidates for the remaining three seats of Punjab. With this,the BJP has declared a total of 301 candidates in the 403-member UP Assembly.

Among the other candidates included in the BJP’s list today are Aligarh Mayor Ashutosh Varshney (Aligarh); former MPs Padamsen Choudhary (Matera),Chhatrapal Singh (Anupshahr) and Nawab Singh Nagar (Dadri) and ex-deputy mayor of Allahabad Anamika Choudhary (Karchhna).