Thakur Sangeet Som is a
BJP politician based in
Sardhana
Sardhana is a city and a municipal board in Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is northeast of New Delhi and 13 mi from Meerut. It is 5 km from Meerut Karnal National Highway and 12 km from National Highway 5 ...
,
Meerut
Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...
. He is former
Member of Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several national ...
from the
Sardhana
Sardhana is a city and a municipal board in Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is northeast of New Delhi and 13 mi from Meerut. It is 5 km from Meerut Karnal National Highway and 12 km from National Highway 5 ...
constituency.
Personal life and education
Sangeet Som was born in affluent agricultural family of
Thakur Omveer Singh in Village Alamgeer (Faridpur) in
Sardhana
Sardhana is a city and a municipal board in Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is northeast of New Delhi and 13 mi from Meerut. It is 5 km from Meerut Karnal National Highway and 12 km from National Highway 5 ...
Tehsil of
Meerut
Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...
District. He completed his Secondary Education from K.K. Jain Inter college
Khatauli a nearby city in
Muzaffarnagar District in 1997.
Sangeet Singh Som is married to Preeti Som Sangeet and has two children.
Political career
Sangeet Singh Som won from the
Sardhana
Sardhana is a city and a municipal board in Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is northeast of New Delhi and 13 mi from Meerut. It is 5 km from Meerut Karnal National Highway and 12 km from National Highway 5 ...
assembly seat with good margin. He is a very popular figure among the Hindu population of the area and has received various titles like “Hindu Hirday Samrat”, "Mahathakur," "Sangharshveer," etc. by different Hindu organizations.
2013 Muzaffarnagar riots
He is one of the accused in the
2013 Muzaffarnagar riots and was booked under the
National Security Act on 24 September 2013. Justice Vishnu Sahai Commission's report on Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 has put him on top of the list of those it has found responsible for the flare-up. On 18 January 2017, Som was booked for showing clips from the riots as part of a documentary.
On 7 September 2015, Som alleged that the
Samajwadi Party
The Samajwadi Party ( SP; ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is the third-largest political party in ...
and the
Uttar Pradesh police were discriminating on religious grounds in their probe in the
Janmashtami clashes, which he said was biased.
Contested Indian General Election 2009 from
Muzaffarnagar (Lok Sabha constituency) as
Samajwadi Party
The Samajwadi Party ( SP; ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is the third-largest political party in ...
candidate and finished third.
Sangeet Singh Som was named in legal cases related to the
2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.
A special MP/MLA court in Muzaffarnagar accepted the closure report submitted by a special investigation team (SIT) of the
Uttar Pradesh police in a case against BJP MLA Sangeet Som who allegedly uploaded a video on social media and others who shared it, triggering communal riots in Muzaffarnagar in 2013.
On 13 October 2022, a Gautam Budh Nagar Court found Som, guilty of giving hate speech and convicted him under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant). He was fined and released.
Despite being known as an anti-cow-slaughter campaigner, documentary evidence revealed that Som had been personally associated with two meat processing and export companies, Al-Dua and Al-Anam.
Al-Dua has been described as one of India's leading
halal
''Halal'' (; ) is an Arabic word that translates to in English. Although the term ''halal'' is often associated with Islamic dietary laws, particularly meat that is slaughtered according to Islamic guidelines, it also governs ethical practices ...
meat export companies which exports meat to Arab countries.
Speaking with the
Hindustan Times
''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...
on October 9, 2015, Som claimed he was unaware of having been made a director of Al-Dua, and that as a "Hindu hardliner" it was not possible for him to engage in such an activity.
However, the next day, Som admitted to
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
that he was a director of Al-Dua for about two years.
As per
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
, Al-Dua's company website states:"Al Dua Food Processing are specialists in the export of quality halal buffalo, sheep/lamb, goat meat and hides."
On 11 February 2017, the day of the first phase of the
2017 Assembly election, Som's brother was arrested in
Faridpur for carrying a pistol into a polling booth.
Political positions
Som favoured imprisoning Mohammed Akhlaq's family who died in the
2015 Dadri lynching.
He also promised bail for the arrested accused in the case.
On 9 November 2018, Singh claimed that Muzaffarnagar should be renamed Lakshminagar.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Som, Sangeet Singh
Uttar Pradesh MLAs 2012–2017
1972 births
Living people
Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh
Samajwadi Party politicians
2013 Muzaffarnagar violence
Uttar Pradesh MLAs 2017–2022