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Updated: Jan 21, 2019 10:25 IST

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Sadhna Singh, who sparked a controversy with derogatory remarks against BSP chief Mayawati, is a first-time MLA.

An affidavit submitted by her to the returning officer during assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh in 2017 mentioned seven criminal cases against her, according to an ANI report.

These included rioting, wrongful restraint, endangering life and personal safety of others and the use of assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duties.

Before joining politics around a decade and a half ago, she was president of the Chandauli Vyapar Mandal, said a BJP worker who did not wish to be named. She also headed the BJP women wing’s Chandauli unit.

The party worker said Singh graduated from Sampurnanand Sanskrit University (SSU) in 1997. She got the party ticket in the 2017 UP assembly election and won the Mughalsarai seat.

In May 2017, two months after the election, she allegedly got angry with the Mughalsarai divisional railway manager (DRM) over lack of cleanliness in the European colony of the town.

The situation arose when she reportedly called the DRM and asked him to reach the spot. But as the DRM didn’t reach, Singh, along with her supporters, went to the DRM office where she lost her cool as she came face to face with the official. Security personnel intervened and pacified her. At the time, she said she would file a written complaint against the DRM with the railway minister.

Despite repeated efforts, the MLA couldn’t be reached for her comment on allegations against as her mobile phone was switched off.

However, she has expressed regret for her remark about BSP chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati. Sadhna Singh on Sunday issued a press release in Hindi, which roughly translates as, “Recently, the speech given by me was not intended to insult anyone, but to remind how the BJP had helped Mayawati in the Guest House case on June 2, 1995.

Watch | Didn’t want to insult Mayawati, shared a woman’s pain: Sadhana Singh

With ANI inputs