Maharashtra: Amid other leaders’ complaints, NCP won’t ask Munde to resign
The NCP took the decision in a late-night meeting of core committee members as leaders from other parties alleged the same woman had tried to “honeytrap” them too, said insiders.
State social justice minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Dhananjay Munde may not have to quit from his post, amid allegations of rape by a woman. The NCP took the decision in a late-night meeting of core committee members as leaders from other parties alleged the same woman had tried to “honeytrap” them too, said insiders.
Earlier in the day, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said the allegations against Munde were serious and the party will have to take a decision. However, he would discuss the issue with his senior colleagues before reaching a conclusion. Pawar’s statement was seen as an indication that the party leadership may ask Munde to tender his resignation. Munde said he was ready to accept any decision taken by the party.
In a copy of a complaint uploaded on her Twitter handle, the woman mentioned that Munde made sexual advances towards her without her consent since 2006. “He (Munde) promised to get me launched as a singer in Bollywood,” the complaint states. Following the post, Munde issued a public clarification on his social media account and said that the woman and her sister, with whom he was in a relationship with, were blackmailing him since 2019. Her brother is also involved in the alleged conspiracy, he said.
Pawar told reporters: “The allegations being made against Munde are serious. Being a political party, we will have to discuss it and take a decision considering everybody’s views. Munde has explained the matter in detail and it is my responsibility to convey it to the senior leaders and take the next step as soon as possible. I don’t think this should be delayed.”
However, leaders from other parties, too, made similar complaints as Munde.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former MLA Krishna Hegde accused the same woman of harassment for years and filed a complaint with the Amboli Police.
“The woman used to call and say we are in a relationship, but I kept avoiding her. It started in 2010 and continued till 2015. I blocked her many times, but then she used to call me from another number. I didn’t know her intention, so I did some background check and found out things were not very right. But didn’t want to come out and say anything about a woman, as it also didn’t concern me because I never met her. But when this episode of Mr Munde came to the fore, I realised she is a serial offender. I felt this needs to be stopped and so registered an official police complaint,” Hegde said.
The woman refuted the allegations on her Twitter handle.
She said, “I was never involved in any honey trap activity as alleged. Infact Mr. Krishna Hegde started the conversation with me. He met me at the birthday party of Mr. Pratap SirNaik (MLA). The allegations made by Mr. Krishna Hedge is false, bogus and baseless.”
Another leader Manish Dhuri from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) also alleged the woman tried to honeytrap him by calling him to her flat in Andheri a few years ago.
He felt that someone else was also present at the flat, and left her house. Dhuri also filed a complaint with the Amboli police.
In view of the allegations, senior NCP leaders felt that asking Munde to step down without any investigation was not right. “There was a possibility that the same would be repeated with others as well,” said a senior minister, requesting anonymity.
The meeting was held at Praful Patel’s residence in south Mumbai where state NCP chief Jayant Patil, Supriya Sule, Anil Deshmukh, Sunil Tatkare, Nawab Malik, Hasan Mushrif and Rajesh Tope were present. Later, Munde was also called to join the meeting.
