NEW DELHI: A new twist has emerged in the case of Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde, accused of rape by a Mumbai-based woman.
Munde’s cabinet colleague Abdul Sattar has defended him by saying that “pyar kiya to darna kya (why feel afraid if you loved?)
Former BJP MLA Krishna Hegde has alleged that the woman who has levelled sexual harassment charges against Munde had tried to lay honeytrap for him a few years ago.
In a letter to the police, Hegde said he did not fall prey to the woman who had tried to trap and blackmail him on false charges. The woman had called and messaged him for five years from 2010 to 2015. She had been "coaxing" him to have a relationship with her but he refused to meet her.
In the letter to the police, Hegde said, “Through my sources, I found out that she is a dubious person who is setting up a honey trap. I totally avoided meeting her," and added that she had tried to get in touch with him this month as well.
Requesting the Mumbai Police to investigate his complaint on an urgent basis, he said he wrote the letter after learning about allegations against Munde. "Today, they have targetted him, a couple of years ago it could have been Me and tomorrow it will be someone else," he added.
However, the woman’s lawyer has refuted Hedge's allegations. Advocate Ramesh Tripathi said, "I will check the complaint properly. I will speak to my client first and then can comment on this."
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena minister in Maharashtra Abdul Sattar has sought to defend Dhananjay Munde. Talking to media persons, Sattar said Munde has himself declared that he had been in a relationship with the complainant’s sister and has two children with her.
“He (Munde) did not hide anything… 'pyaar kiya to darna kya?’” the Sena minister said when asked about the charges against Munde and the BJP's demand for his resignation.
Munde, an NCP leader from Beed district, has denied the rape allegations, claiming he is being blackmailed by the woman and her sister.
Munde (45) said the woman's claims were part of a conspiracy to blackmail him. He, however, acknowledged that he was in a relationship with the woman's sister and has two children with her.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Munde said his wife, family and friends were aware of this relationship, adding the two kids have been accepted by his family.
Sattar said when senior BJP leader late Gopinath Munde faced criticism over his relationship with a woman in late 1990s, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had defended the former deputy chief minister, saying pyaar kiya to darna kya.
Asked about the charge that Dhananjay Munde did not disclose personal details in his election affidavit, Sattar said most leaders do so, including those from the BJP.
"I have such information against BJP leaders and will expose them at (appropriate) time," said the Sena leader.
Sattar accused the BJP of working against the Sena candidate from Jalna in the2019 Assembly polls, leading to his defeat at the hands of the Congress nominee.
The BJP and the Shiv Sena had fought the 2019 state polls together, but parted ways later following differences over power-sharing. The Shiv Sena then joined hands with the NCP and the Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in November 2019.