Allegations against Haryana BJP chief Mohan Lal Badoli ‘serious, high command will take note’: Anil Vij
The case was registered at Kasauli police station on December 13, 2024, where the woman, who worked in Sonepat at the time, alleged that she was raped after being forced to consume alcohol at a hotel in Kasauli.
Terming the gangrape charges against Haryana BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli “very serious”, state energy minister Anil Vij on Wednesday said he is confident that the party high command will take cognisance of the matter.
Vij’s comment comes a day after an FIR, naming Badoli and singer Jai Bhagwan alias Rocky Mittal, under charges of gangrape and criminal intimidation at Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district, surfaced.
The case was registered at Kasauli police station on December 13, 2024, where the woman, who worked in Sonepat at the time, alleged that she was raped after being forced to consume alcohol at a hotel in Kasauli.
Co-accused Jai Bhagwan, a native of Kaithal, was the chairperson of the Haryana government’s special publicity cell during the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government. Both the accused termed the charges as ‘baseless and politically motivated’.
The statement by Vij, the senior-most minister in the state cabinet, comes at a time, Badoli, who unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Sonepat, was eyeing another term as the Haryana BJP president.
So far, there has been no comment from chief minister Nayab Saini or the high command, while the opposition Congress has trained guns on Badoli, calling for his ouster.
Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Haryana state secretariat has demanded the arrest of both the accused. Party’s state secretary Prem Chand, in a statement, expressed surprise about how an FIR against such a high-profile politician remained under the wraps for so long.
At Rohtak’s MDU, National Student’s Organisation also burnt the effigy of Badoli, demanding his resignation from the post and arrest.
Badoli, a Brahmin leader, was also absent from the event where freedom fighter Pandit Shriram Sharma’s statue was unveiled by CM Saini in Rohtak.
