Won't Contest Election Till Proven Innocent: BJP MP Upendra Singh Rawat After Viral Video

Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh: A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party MP Upendra Singh Rawat's ‘doctored’ video surfaced online, the candidate opted out of the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP had fielded a sitting MP from Barabanki Upendra Singh Rawat for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. 

In the viral video, Rawat can be allegedly seen in an objectionable position with a woman. Singh claimed the video to be doctored, alleging that his political opponents circulated it after his candidature was declared by the BJP. 

Rawat has declared that he won't contest the elections until he is proven innocent. “A fake video of mine generated by deepfake AI technology is being made viral, for which I have lodged an FIR. I will not contest any election in public life until I am proven innocent,” said Rawat. 

"I got the party's ticket from Barabanki, my opponents did this act," said the Barabanki MP claiming that the video is completely doctored. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had denied a ticket to the then-sitting MP Priyanka Singh Rawat and made Upendra Singh Rawat its candidate. 

Police Registers FIR 

On the basis of a complaint by MP Upendra Singh Rawat's personal secretary Dinesh Chandra Rawat, an FIR has been lodged against an unknown accused, Kotwali police station in-charge Aditya Tripathi said.

It was alleged in the FIR that some people had made public a doctored objectionable video of the MP to tarnish his image after he was declared a BJP candidate.

(With Inputs from PTI)