The BJP on September 25 said former Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand, accused of rape by a law student of his college, is no longer a member of the party.
“He is not a member of the BJP,” the party’s U.P. spokesperson Harishchandra Srivastava told PTI .
The spokesperson, however, was not forthcoming about since when Mr. Chinmayanand has ceased to be the member of the BJP.
“All our records are now digitised and so we cannot tell from when he has not been a member of the party,” he said.
Mr. Chinmayanand was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh as a BJP candidate in 1999 and had been a Minister of State for Home in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP government. He had won the general elections from Badaun in 1991 and from Machhlishahr in 1998.
Also read: Court admits Shahjahanpur law student's interim bail plea
After the controversy erupted, no BJP leader has come forward to extend any kind of support to Swami Chinmayanand, who has been in judicial custody since September 20 . Even the Akhara Parishad, the prominent body of seers, is set take a decision on expulsion of Mr. Chinmayanand from the body at its meeting in Haridwar on October 10.
Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP) president Narendra Giri has told PTI , “In most of the cases like this, the seer is expelled from the Akhara Parishad until he is proven innocent.”
Mr. Giri said that the 72-year-old Mr. Chinmayanand belonged to the Prayagraj-based Mahanirvani Akhara.
Also read: Shahjahanpur law student, who accused Chinmayanand of rape, arrested
Last year, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had ordered withdrawal of a rape and kidnapping case lodged against Mr. Chinmayanand by a disciple and manager of Mumukshu Ashram run by him.
However, the Chief Judicial Magistrate, District Court, Shahjahanpur, had stalled the withdrawal proceedings after objections from the victim. The manager of the Mumukshu Ashram had filed an FIR against Mr. Chinmayanand on November 30, 2011, alleging that she was held captive, raped and assaulted for several years.
