After his long stint as a brazen law breaker, jailed mobster Arun Kumar Singh alias Brijesh Singh finally managed to assume the mantle of a lawmaker, when he took the oath as a member of legislative Council in lucknow on Friday.
Singh was elected as an MlC from Varanasi local bodies' constituency as an Independent and is one of the 36 new members to the Council elected on March 6. The other 35 members had taken their oath on last Wednesday.
This was Singh's nth IJIJIJ shot to cross over to the right side of law, as in the last 14 years he has contested almost all polls to convert himself into a 'people's representative'.
Acting Chairman of the Coucil, Om Prakash Sharma administered the oath to Singh as the House assembled on Fridaymorning after Singh was brought under heavy security cover from Saharanpur jail, where he is doing time in connection with numerous criminal cases.
Besdies the numerous escorting cops, Singh was accompanied by his wife Annapurna Singh, who represented the Council seat in the last term. The Varanasi local bodies seat is a traditional constituency of Singh and his family as his elder brother Udaynath Singh alias Chulbul Singh also represented it twice.
Singh had also contested the 2012 Assembly polls from Syed Raja Assembly seat in Chandauli but lost to another Independent Manoj Kumar by 2000 votes.
In the absence of a BJP candidate in PM Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi, Singh defeated Meena Singh of Samajwadi Party by 1984 votes in a rather one-sided contest. Interestingly, Meena Singh is the sister of Manoj Kumar, who had defeated Brijesh Singh in the Assembly polls.
Meanwhile, newly elected Chairman of UP legislative Council, Ramesh Yadav also took charge of his office. He was greeted by leaders cutting across party lines. Thanking all, Yadav said that he hoped that he would get co-operation of all members to ensure smooth functioning of the House. The House was later adjourned till the next sitting