Ameeta Sinh (born Amita Kulkarni on 4 October 1962) is a politician from the state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, India, who was formerly a national badminton champion. She has been Chairman of Jilla Panchayat in Amethi/Sultanpur district and has been elected Thrice as a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

for the

Amethi Amethi is a city situated in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is a major town of the Amethi district, in the Faizabad division. The Hanumangarhi temple is located in the heart of the town. Amethi was the 72 nd district of Uttar Pradesh w ...

Vidhan Sabha constituency in the

Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known a ...

. She was minister of state in the

Government of Uttar Pradesh The Government of Uttar Pradesh (ISO: Uttar Pradesh Sarkār; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appointed constitutional head of the state by the President of I ...

. After the death of her first husband Syed Modi, in whose murder she and Sanjay Sinh were accused, she went on to marry Sanjay Sinh, a

Bhartiya Janta Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

(BJP) politician from Amethi who is close to the Nehru-Gandhi family and a descendant, by adoption, of the former royal family of Amethi.

Early life

Ameeta Sinh was born on 4 October 1962. She became a national champion in the sport of

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

during the 1970s. In 1984, she married another national champion,

Syed Modi Syed Modi (31 December 1962 – 28 July 1988), born as Syed Mehdi Hassan Zaidi, was an Indian badminton singles player. He was eight-time National Badminton champion (1980–1987). His most notable achievement at the international badminton ...

, whom she then partnered in a successful badminton career. Their marriage ended when Syed Modi was shot dead in 1988. While they were discharged of all charges, the CBI alleged that Ameeta and Sanjay were in a relationship, although Sanjay was still married at that time. The coup his first wife, Garima . A legal challenge to that divorce resulted in it being set aside in 1998 by the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

, although the couple still claim that they are legally wed. Aside from the three children whom he fathered with Garima, Sanjay has legally adopted Ameeta's daughter. Her daughter was born two months prior to the death of Syed Modi. Sinh graduated from

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, commonly known as Avadh University or Ayodhya University, is situated on NH330 in Faizabad, Ayodhya in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established in 1975 by the government of Uttar Pradesh. H ...

Faizabad Faizabad (Hindustani pronunciation: ɛːzaːbaːd is a city situated near the southern banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The area of this Faizabad region is administered by Ayodhya Municipal Corpor ...

, in 2003 and was awarded a PhD in sociology by the same institution in 2011. Ameeta Sinh has been a party to a public battle over an inheritance that has seen Sanjay and Garima making rival claims. Sanjay was adopted by the king of Amethi, Rananjay Singh, as his heir prior to the abolition of all royal privileges in India and as such he inherited the former royal estates. In 1989, he had removed Garima from the palace but in 2014 she and her children took up residence at another palace in Amethi, called Bhupati Bhawan, and refused to move. Local people gathered to support her, claiming that she, rather than Ameeta, was the real queen.

Political career

Sinh was Chairman of Jilla Panchayat of Amethi/Sultanpur district between August 2000 and February 2002. She won the Amethi Vidhan Sabha seat as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in the 2002 Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections, and again in the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative el ...

, this time as an INC candidate. Her husband had also been a BJP politician at the time of the 2002 elections, having begun his career with the INC, moved to the

Janata Dal Janata Dal (“People’s Party”) was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha united on 11 ...

party and then to the BJP. He had returned to the INC in 2003. She was minister for technical education. In 2012, Singh stood as an INC candidate in the Amethi constituency during the state legislative assembly elections of that year. She lost to

Gayatri Prajapati Gayatri Prasad Prajapati was an Indian politician. He was convicted of rape, criminal conspiracy, and criminal intimidation. In 2021 he was sentenced to 5yr jail by Allahabad High court. He was a former cabinet minister in the government of Utt ...

of the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as w ...

. She contested the Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency as an INC candidate for a seat in the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

but finished third, with the winner being

Varun Gandhi Varun Gandhi (born 13 March 1980) is an Indian author, politician, and a third-term member of Parliament for Lok Sabha from the Pilibhit constituency. He is also member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and was inducted into Rajnath Singh's team ...

of the BJP. In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly elections, Sinh contested the Amethi constituency as an INC candidate and had Garima Singh as one of her opponents, standing for the BJP. The BJP hoped to win the seat by exploiting local sympathy for Garima, who is a relative of V. P. Singh, a former

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

. Both women named Sanjay Singh as their spouse in their election affidavits, and it was Garima who won the contest. BJP spokespeople claimed the result was indeed one based on elector's feelings about the long-running family drama. In July 2019, Ameeta Singh along with her husband

Sanjaya Sinh Sanjaya Sinh (also known as Sanjay Singh, born 25 September 1951) is an Indian politician and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. He was twice elected to the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh during the 1980s and held state ministerial po ...

joined

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

References

External links

*

* http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/syed-modi-murder-despite-protests-cbi-seems-unrelenting-in-its-pursuits/1/329822.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Ameeta 1962 births Living people Indian female badminton players Uttar Pradesh MLAs 2002–2007 Indian national badminton champions Uttar Pradesh MLAs 2007–2012 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh Janata Dal politicians Samajwadi Janata Party politicians People from Amethi