Smriti Irani lends a shoulder to mortal remains of BJP worker Surendra Singh who was shot dead in Amethi. (Pho... Read More

AMETHI: Two days after BJP leader Smriti Irani pulled off the biggest upset of the Lok Sabha polls by unseating Congress president Rahul Gandhi in his backyard Amethi , her close aide Surendra Singh , who swung the poll for her at the grassroots, was shot dead at his residence in Baraulia village late Saturday night.

Four gunmen stormed the house of the 58-year-old ex-sarpanch and pumped bullets into him, police said. He was rushed to Lucknow’s KGMU Sunday morning where he was declared brought dead.

Three persons were arrested and two detained after massive raids in Amethi’s three tehsils, Gauriganj, Jais and Tiloi. While Wasim, Dharmnath Gupta and Ramchandra have been arrested, Nasim and Golu are being interrogated.

Booked for murder and criminal conspiracy, all of them were named by Surendra’s family in the complaint.

Irani rushed to Amethi from Delhi and turned pallbearer, breaking a centuries-old men-only custom. Referring to Rahul’s remark after his defeat — “Take care of Amethi with love” — she said, “I have received the message loud and clear”.

On the murder of her poll aide Surendra Singh, newly elected Amethi MP Smriti Irani said, “I will seek death penalty for the killers of Surendra ji in whichever court of justice. He was a loyal member of our party. In this moment of mourning, I have come to stand in solidarity with the family.”

While Surendra’s son Abhay Pratap Singh said his father’s killing was a ‘political murder’, Irani told mediapersons outside the former sarpanch’s house that he was killed so that Amethi could be “terrorised, disintegrated and bowed down”.

As tens of thousands of villagers thronged Surendra’s funeral procession, Irani joined the pallbearers. She walked over a kilometre to the cremation ground amid sloganeering. There were emotional scenes as Surendra’s family members wept inconsolably as they embraced Irani and Mohsin Raza, UP’s minister in charge of Amethi.

Surendra’s son Abhay blamed political enmity for his father’s murder. “My father was a man of peace. We often had minor arguments with supporters of another party during polls, but everybody would air their views democratically. It is the election result that has upset people and triggered this murder,” he told reporters.

Abhay also mentioned the family’s rivalry with Dharmarth and Ramchandra in panchayat and Lok Sabha elections. Baraulia shot to fame when Irani brought then defence minister Manohar Parrikar, who adopted the village and distributed shoes, textbooks and sarees from his MPLAD funds, a gesture which triggered a political slugfest with Congress.

The FIR, a copy of which is with TOI, quotes Surendra’s brother Narendra as saying: “It was around 11:30 pm when my brother Surendra Pratap was asleep in the balcony. My nephews Abhay and Anurag were also asleep. We heard gunshots and when we woke up, we saw Wasim, Golu and Nasim flee. Another man, Ramchandra BDC, was present. We suspect the murder could be a fallout of a rivalry with another villager, Dharmnath Gupta.”

Singh’s inconsolable wife, Rukmani, said Irani promised to take care of their children.

“Smriti ji met me. My husband worked for BJP. She has assured we will get police protection and also take care of my children. My husband helped Smriti ji. We are very proud of him for his service to the nation,” Rukmani told TOI.



In Video: Emotional Smriti Irani promises justice to murdered aide’s family in Amethi