Mohammed Sajib at 06:04, 23 January 2026

2026-01-23T06:04:42Z

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{{short description|Indian politician}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date = September 2019}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Atul
| image = Atul Rai.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1982|07|05}}
| birth_place = [[Ghazipur]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], India
| death_place =
| party = [[Bahujan Samaj Party]]
| residence = [[Birpur, Ghazipur]]
| occupation = Politician and businessman
| citizenship = {{flag|India}}n
| signature =
| website =
| blank1 =
}}

'''Atul''' is an Indian politician and a former [[Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha|member of Parliament]] from the [[Ghosi (Lok Sabha constituency)|Ghosi]] constituency in [[Uttar Pradesh]]. According to his election filing he had assets worth more than 6 crore rupees.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Atul Kumar Singh, BSP MP from Ghosi - Our Neta |url=https://ourneta.com/neta/atul-kumar-singh/ |access-date=2024-02-23 |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life==
Atul Rai was born on 20 February 1982 in Birpur village of [[Ghazipur]] district in [[Uttar Pradesh]] in a Bhumihar family. His father, Bharat Singh Rai, was an employee of [[Diesel Locomotive Works]] in [[Varanasi]]. Atul got his early education from [[Kendriya Vidyalaya]], DLW, Varanasi. He graduated from [[Harish Chandra Postgraduate College]], Varanasi. After graduation, he started his own business.

His brother is Pawan Kumar Rai, and his wife is Priyanka Singh.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.patrika.com/mau-news/know-about-ghosi-lok-sabha-bsp-candidate-atul-rai-4428544/|title=जानिए कौन हैं अतुल राय|publisher=patrika.com|accessdate=23 May 2019}}</ref>

==Political career==
Atul Rai joined [[Bahujan Samaj Party]] in 2015. He contested the assembly election of Uttar Pradesh in 2017 from [[Zamania (Assembly constituency)]] and garnered 67,559 votes. In his first election, he lost a close contest with 9,264 votes.

In the 2019 General Lok sabha election, Atul Rai Contested the Parliament election from [[Ghosi Lok Sabha constituency|Ghosi Loksabha Constituency]] and won the election by a margin of 122000+votes.

He was dropped in 2024.

==Rape allegations==

In May 2019, a woman accused Atul Rai of rape at his home in Varanasi. Mr. Rai, who denied the accusation, was arrested a month later and has been in jail since then.

In November 2020, Atul Rai's brother registered a police complaint accusing the victim of committing forgery. The woman called the accusations as harassment and an attempt to force her to withdraw the rape charge. However, the court, in August 2021, issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against her.

In desperation, the woman and a male friend travelled from their state in Uttar Pradesh to the capital, Delhi, and on 16 August 2021, self-immolated themselves outside India's Supreme Court. They were live on Facebook as they sprinkled petrol on themselves and lit the fire. Before setting themselves alight, the duo named several police officials, including then SSP Varanasi Amit Pathak and CO Bhelupur Amrendra Singh, and a judge of MPMLA court Prayagraj, accusing them of conspiring with Mr. Rai.

The man died at the hospital on Saturday, 21 August 2021. The woman succumbed to her death on the evening of Tuesday, 24 August 2021.

After this incident, the [[Yogi Adityanath]] government registered an FIR against Rai and ex-[[Indian Police Service|IPS]] [[Amitabh Thakur]], who had announced to contest the election against Yogi Adityanath while leaving everyone else. Thakur was arrested immediately after the registration of the FIR in a highly contentious manner. Thakur called this a targeted and selective political vendetta. The case is presently in Court.
<ref>{{Cite web|title=Woman, who accused BSP MP Atul Rai of rape & set herself ablaze outside SC, breathes last|url=https://www.timesnownews.com/delhi/article/woman-bsp-mp-atul-rai-rape-set-herself-ablaze-outside-sc-breathes-last/803332|access-date=2021-08-26|website=www.timesnownews.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-08-25|title=‘Raped’ by BSP MP, woman who set herself on fire dies; family says was being harassed|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/woman-who-set-herself-ablaze-outside-supreme-court-dies-7468560/|access-date=2021-08-26|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=UP Woman Who Accused MP Of Rape Dies Week After She Set Herself On Fire At Supreme Court Gate|url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/bsp-mp-atul-rai-raped-me-up-woman-dies-days-after-self-immolation-at-supreme-court-gate-2517830|access-date=2021-08-26|website=NDTV.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Scroll Staff|title=Woman who accused BSP MP of raping her dies a week after setting herself on fire|url=https://scroll.in/latest/1003665/woman-who-accused-bsp-mp-of-raping-her-dies-a-week-after-setting-herself-on-fire|access-date=2021-08-26|website=Scroll.in|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=PTI|date=2021-08-24|title=Woman who accused BSP MP Atul Rai of rape and set herself, friend on fire outside SC, dies|url=https://theprint.in/judiciary/woman-who-accused-bsp-mp-atul-rai-of-rape-and-set-herself-friend-on-fire-outside-sc-dies/721286/|access-date=2021-08-26|website=ThePrint|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.india.com/assembly-election-2017/uttar-pradesh/zamania/|publisher=india.com|title=Zamania - Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election Results 2017|accessdate=26 April 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{17th LS members from Uttar Pradesh}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Atul}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Mau]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:1982 births]]
[[Category:India MPs 2019–2024]]
[[Category:Bahujan Samaj Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Politicians from Ghazipur]]

Atul Rai - Revision history

Mohammed Sajib at 06:04, 23 January 2026