Ameeta Singh

Ameeta Singh
Member of Legislative Assembly, Uttar Pradesh
In office
2002–2012
Succeeded byGayatri Prasad Prajapati
ConstituencyAmethi
Personal details
BornAmeeta Kulkarni
(1962-10-04) 4 October 1962
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
PartyBharatiya Janata Party
Other political
affiliations
Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1984; died 1988)​

​
(m. 1995)​
OccupationPolitician, former national badminton champion, former Education Minister
Known for
President Delhi Capital Badminton Association, All India Professional Congress, Social work, Vice Chairman RRSGI group of Institutions, Amethi and Bronze medal winner Asian Games 1982

Ameeta Sinh (born Amita Kulkarni on 4 October 1962) is a politician from the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, who was formerly a national badminton champion. She has been Chairman of Jilla Panchayat in Amethi/Sultanpur district and has been elected three times as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Amethi Vidhan Sabha constituency in the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh. She was minister of state in the Government of Uttar Pradesh.

After the murder of her first husband Syed Modi, in whose murder she and her future husband Sanjay Sinh were accused, she went on to marry Sanjay Sinh, a Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress politician, at various times, 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 during the 1970s.[1] In 1984, she married another national champion, Syed Modi, whom she then partnered in a successful badminton career. Their marriage ended when Syed Modi was shot dead in 1988. It was at that time that Modi has found out about the relationship between Sanjay Singh and his wife who was now carrying a baby. The duo was arrested for the murder of Modi and it is said that Sanjay Singh used his political influence to full affect. Subsequently, 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, 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.[2] Her daughter was born two months prior to the death of Syed Modi.[3]

Sinh graduated from Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, Faizabad, in 2003 and was awarded a PhD in sociology by the same institution in 2011.[4]

Ameeta Sinh has been involved in a public inheritance battle, with Sanjay and Garima making rival claims.".[5] 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.[6]

Political career

Sinh was Chairman of Jilla Panchayat of Amethi/Sultanpur district between August 2000 and February 2002.[7] She won the Amethi Vidhan Sabha seat as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in the 2002 Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections,[8] and again in the 2007 elections, this time as an INC candidate.[6] 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 party and then to the BJP. He had returned to the INC in 2003.[9] She was the state minister with independent charge for technical education in the short-lived Third Mayawati ministry during 2002.[10]

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 of the Samajwadi Party.[11] She contested the Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency as an INC candidate for a seat in the Parliament of India in 2014 but finished third, with the winner being Varun Gandhi of the BJP.[12]

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.[8] 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.[11] In July 2019, Ameeta Singh along with her husband Sanjaya Sinh joined Bharatiya Janata Party.[13]

Murder of Syed Modi

Syed Modi was shot dead on 28 July 1988 in Lucknow. The murder attracted worldwide attention. There were suggestions that Ameeta was involved in a relationship with Singh, who was a close friend of the couple and at whose house they had married. In late August, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launched a search of Singh's house.[14] The investigation was urged upon the CBI by the government of Uttar Pradesh and in November 1988, Ameeta Modi, Singh and another politician, Akhilesh Kumar Singh, were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Four others were charged with the murder itself. Subsequently, Modi, Sanjay Singh and Akilesh Singh successfully challenged the charges laid against them, resulting in the charges against Modi and Sanjay Singh being dropped in September 1990 and those against Akilesh Singh following the same course in 1996. The Supreme Court upheld the rulings of the lower courts.[15]

Movie and TV series

Actor and director Dev Anand made a thriller movie based on the murder of Syed Modi. Sau Crore was released in 1991 with the role of Modi being played by Raman Kapoor. The movie was a surprise hit at the box office.[16]

A 2020 ZEE5 web series The Chargesheet: Innocent or Guilty is based on the sensational murder of Syed Modi, though it does not officially acknowledge so, where the characters of Table Tennis player Shiraz Malik, his wife Antara Dixit, politician Ranveer Pratap Singh and his wife Chitrangada Singh prime-facie very apparently resemble Badminton player Syed Modi, his wife Amita Singh, then Amita Modi, Sanjay Sinh and his wife Garima Singh. [17] [18][19] [20]

References

  1. ↑ Naqvi, L. H. (18 February 2002). "Political mood in Nehru-Gandhi land". The Tribune. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  2. ↑ Mathur, Swati (3 August 2014). "Battle royal in Amethi". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  3. ↑ Weinraub, Bernard (28 August 1988). "India Murder Scandal Mixes Sex and Politics". New York Times. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  4. ↑ myneta (April 2017). "AMEETA SINGH(Criminal & Asset Declaration)". myneta. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Rai, Manmohan (20 September 2014). "Royal feud: 50-year-old Bhupati Bhavan Palace in Amethi locked in inheritance battle". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  6. 1 2 Srivastava, Piyush (12 February 2017). "'Queens' & knight in Amethi battle". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  7. ↑ "List of Zila Panchayat Adhyaksh, Sultanpur" (PDF). sultanpur.nic.in. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  8. 1 2 Pathak, Vikas (17 February 2017). "Star wars in Amethi: Amita versus Garima". The Hindu. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  9. ↑ "Sanjay Singh comes full circle". The Times of India. 21 August 2003. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  10. ↑ "Mayawati inducts 56 ministers". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  11. 1 2 Agha, Eram (11 March 2017). "Riding Garima Singh's 'Sympathy Wave', BJP Storms Gandhi Bastion". News18.
  12. ↑ "Election Results 2014: BJP Leader Varun Gandhi Wins From Sultanpur". NDTV. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  13. ↑ "Former Amethi royal Sanjay Sinh, wife Ameeta join BJP". DNA. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  14. ↑ Bernard Weinraub (28 August 1988). "India Murder Scandal Mixes Sex and Politics". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  15. ↑ Sisodiya, Ravi Singh (21 August 2009). "Syed Modi case closed, motive unclear". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  16. ↑ "Politics, sports, royalty, sex: 'Chargesheet' will be brutal reminder of Syed Modi murder". The Print. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  17. ↑ "The Chargesheet Innocent or Guilty review: This Arunoday Singh show only kills time". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  18. ↑ Tandon, Avishka (12 September 2022). "7 Political Crime Web Shows For A Great Weekend Watch". SheThePeople. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  19. ↑ Patwa, Priyadarshini (24 January 2021). "7 detective shows & movies on Zee5 that'll take you to the land of murder, mystery, crime and investigation". GQ India. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  20. ↑ Anand, Anand (18 November 2019). "Trailer Review: सियासी हलचल मचाने को तैयार सैयद मोदी मर्डर केस की चार्जशीट". Amar Ujala (in Hindi). Retrieved 11 June 2023.StarStarStarHalf star
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