BJP MLA Akash Saxena takes oath as member of UP Assembly

Newly-elected BJP MLA from Rampur Akash Saxena on Monday took oath as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

A statement issued here said Speaker Satish Mahana administered the oath to Saxena in his office.

The BJP had won the Rampur Sadar assembly seat for the first time after Saxena defeated his nearest Samajwadi Party rival Asim Raja by a margin of 33,702 votes in a bypoll.

The bypoll to the Muslim-dominated Rampur Sadar seat, considered an Azam Khan stronghold, was necessitated after the senior SP leader was sentenced to three years in jail in a hate speech case, and subsequently disqualified as MLA and barred from contesting polls for six years.