Maharashtra: Dhananjay Munde survives scare, keeps job

Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde. File pic

Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde has survived a resignation scare. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) bosses dismissed any case against him after the woman who accused him of rape has been accused of blackmail by at least three people, including leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). NCP boss Sharad Pawar said on Friday that all cases should be thoroughly probed in the wake of the charges made against the woman before arriving at any conclusion in Munde's case.

"Prima facie, the charges against the minister appeared serious when I spoke about it on Thursday. I said so considering that the accusations were made by a woman. However, the information that three people, including politicians of different ideologies, shared with the media and police changed the situation completely," said Pawar, adding that he has suggested that a woman officer of the rank of assistant commissioner of police probe the case.

"We must know the truth. Anyone who faces allegations cannot step aside just because charges are made against him or her. We would have been talking about something else today had the three people not spoken their mind on Friday," said Pawar.

Hours after the woman tweeted wondering if mighty people who have ganged up against her want her to back off, her lawyer Ramesh Tripathi said on Friday that allegations made by Krishna Hegde of the BJP, Manish Dhuri of MNS and a former Jet Airways employee, Rizwan Sheikh, were baseless. Earlier in the day, the woman had tweeted that Hegde met her at Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik's birthday and contacted her after their first encounter.

"My client has asked me to tell you that the allegations made against her are false and baseless. She wanted to share her views with you today but some legal work has held her back. She will present her say on Saturday after recording her statement at the police station," said Tripathi.

Lawyer threatened
Tripathi said he was being threatened on phone by unknown people to drop the case. "I can fight the case only if I'm safe. I have lodged a complaint with the Navi Mumbai police," he said, adding that his client has clinching evidence, including videos. According to the lawyer, a high court case that Munde is fighting with the accuser's sister (with whom the minister has two children) and her case are different. "No man has the right to rape his wife's sister," said Tripathi.

BJP's protest
The BJP's women's wing announced a statewide agitation demanding Munde's resignation from Monday. Wing president Uma Khapre said the chief minister should have taken Munde's resignation but hasn't said a word about the incident. BJP workers will give respective district collectors a memorandum seeking justice for the survivor. "The survivor is trying to get an FIR registered but to no avail. The government, which prepares to make a Shakti Law to protect women against crime, isn't helping her. The CM should ensure a fair probe against a minister who ironically heads the social justice department," said Khapre in a statement.