As the newly elected members of the 17th Lok Sabha took their oath of office during the first session of the parliament, rape accused BSP MP Atul Kumar Singh is yet to take his oath fearing his imminent arrest.
Atul Kumar Singh aka Atul Rai, a newly elected Bahujan Samaj Party MP from Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh had been absconding for over a month since he was made an accused in a rape case. Atul Kumar Singh is accused of raping a Varanasi college girl.
The FIR was filed against Rai on May 2 by the victim who accused him of repeatedly raping her, filming the act and threatening her of making the video public. The victim also said that she was forced to sleep with other BSP leaders as well. The victim had alleged that Rai took her to his home for a meeting with his wife and sexually assaulted her.
The BSP MP has been absconding since his plea seeking anticipatory bail was rejected by the Allahabad High Court. Atul Singh was not present during his election campaign either and still, he managed to win the seat.
Supreme Court had also dismissed the plea of newly elected Lok Sabha MP of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Atul Kumar Singh after he had sought protection from arrest.
Other than Atul Kumar Singh, four other newly elected members of Parliament did not participate in the oath-taking ceremony. Santosh Kumar (Janata Dal-U, Poornia, Bihar), Prajwal Revanna (Janata Dal-S, Hassan, Karnataka), Nusrat Jahan Ruhi and Mimi Chakraborty (both belonging to TMC from Basirhat and Jadavpur respectively in West Bengal have not taken their oath of office yet.
Actor turned politician and Basirhat MP Nusrat Jahan Ruhi missed taking oath as a Member of Parliament because of her wedding. Nusrat’s colleague and fellow first time MP Mimi Chakraborty was also in Turkey to attend the wedding, for which she missed taking oath in the Lok Sabha. Mimi Chakraborty won the Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat as a Trinamool Congress candidate.
However, Prajwal Revanna, the Hassan MP and grandson of former PM HD Devegowda is said to be waiting for an ‘auspicious time’ for taking oath as a member of the Lower House.
Reportedly, Prajwal Revanna has sought a special time from the Lok Sabha secretariat to take oath as a member of the Lok Sabha after 2.30 pm. On Friday, the first time MP from Hassan will take the oath with the presence of his father HD Revanna and other relatives.
It is notable here that though the first two days of Lok Sabha is reserved for new members taking the oath, there is no restriction on any new MP taking oath later.
