Swaran Singh Salaria, SAD-BJP candidate from the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency, claimed that he was going to take Punjab Finance Minister, Manpreet Badal, to court for defamation and seek damages worth 50 crore for accusing him of raping a Mumbai-based woman.
Manpreet Badal had sought the SAD-BJP candidate’s disqualification for concealing the registration of a rape case against him by a Mumbai-based woman in his nomination papers filed in Gurdaspur.
Addressing a press conference, Salaria said this was his first and last statement on this subject as he didn’t want to waste his time on the issue, which was being tom-tommed by his rivals to merely divert the attention of the voters who had made up their minds to cast their vote in his favour.
When asked about the woman’s statement to some TV channels in Delhi, saying that she was moving the apex court, Salaria said she had never turned up in the high court, and her sudden reappearance indicated that she was being lured by rival parties who wanted to malign him.
When asked about his photos going viral on social media sites, Salaria claimed Congress was trying to create doubts in the minds of the Gurdaspur voters.
{{/usCountry}}When asked about his photos going viral on social media sites, Salaria claimed Congress was trying to create doubts in the minds of the Gurdaspur voters.
{{/usCountry}}Salaria claimed that though Manpreet Badal had alleged that a case under Section 376, 420 and 506 of the IPC was registered against him, he had failed to mention that only Section 506 was pending against him, and it didn’t have to be mentioned in the nomination papers.
“His claim that charges have been framed against me are far from reality; had this happened, I would have quit politics. And if Badal is wrong, he must quit his post,” fumed Salaria.
Salaria, who is also being accused of ruining the future of students admitted to his medical college by Punjab health minister Brahm Mohindra, claimed that he tried his best to run the college but his rivals were creating hurdles in his way.
He also indicated that he knew what opposition leaders were doing in their private lives, but he did not want to hit below the belt like other parties.