Two ex-UP legislators convicted after 20 yrs

UTTAR PRADESH: An MP/MLA court has convicted two former legislators and five others for attacking administrative officials and looting ballot papers in Uttar Pradesh's Basti district, following a dispute over recounting of votes during Member of Legislative Council (MLC) elections in 2003.

The court in Basti convicted the main accused, Sanjay Jaiswal, a two-time MLA from Congress (2012) and BJP (2017), and former BJP MLA Aditya Vikram Singh (2012).

Additional civil judge Arpita Yadav sentenced them to three-year imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 2,000 each.

A dispute had erupted over recounting of votes during the election after which Jaiswal, then a Congress leader who was supporting a candidate Kanchana Singh, and six of his associates assaulted the officials and looted ballot papers.

According to district government counsel, Basti, Devanand Singh, the dispute arose after a businessman, Manish Jaiswal, won the elections against Kanchana Singh.