LUCKNOW: Gangster-turned-politician Dhananjay Singh’s plan to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls came a cropper on Wednesday when the Jaunpur MP/MLA court sentenced him to seven-year imprisonment imposing a fine of Rs 50,000 in connection with an abduction, extortion and criminal conspiracy case of 2020.
The former MP and Janata Dal (United) national general secretary had been contemplating to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Jaunpur. However, with JD(U) returning to NDA fold, the claim of the party from Jaunpur vacated. This led Dhananjay to announce that he would contest from Jaunpur as an independent candidate. Now after his conviction and jail term of 7 years, he won’t be able to contest the elections unless he gets any relief from the higher court.
Jaunpur ADJ-IV (MP/MLA) Sharad Kumar Tripathi, on Wednesday, awarded the jail term imposing the penalty each on Dhananjay and his close aide Vikram Singh under relevant sections. Meanwhile, police had made tight security arrangements as hundreds of supporters of Dhananjay gathered during the hearing.