In controversial remarks, a BJP legislator has sympathised with MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, accused of raping a minor girl and killing her two aunts, and expressed his "best wishes" for him to overcome his "difficult times".
The BJP, however, distanced itself from the comments, saying the statements could the personal view of Hardoi MLA Ashish Singh Ashu.
Days after Sengar, a four-time legislator, was expelled from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Ashu was caught on camera, hoping Sengar comes out of jail soon.
A video clip of him making the remarks has surfaced online.
"Our brother Kuldeep Singh could not be here among us today as he is going through difficult times. Our best wishes are with him. We hope that he will overcome the bad times, fight through it and come out of it and be with all of you to lead you," Ashu is heard saying in the video made at a panchayat meeting in Unnao on Friday.
"Wherever we are, our best wishes are with him," he added.
But BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi told PTI, "So far as the BJP is concerned, whatever disciplinary action it had to take, has been taken. Sengar has been expelled.
"Unless one is proved guilty, one is innocent in the eyes of the law. May be the MLA (Ashu) spoke on these lines."