Rape charge a conspiracy, ready for probe: BJP MLA says after being summoned by party

"The woman first tried to blackmail him and when his wife registered an FIR against her, she lodged a complaint with the police levelling false allegations against him (Negi) to save herself," a press release from the state BJP unit said quoting the MLA.

BJP MLA Mahesh Negi, who has been accused of rape by a woman, on Monday claimed before the party leadership in Uttarakhand that the allegation was a conspiracy to defame him. Summoned by the party over the issue, the MLA from Dwarahat appeared before BJP's state president Bansidhar Bhagat.

"Negi said he is ready for any probe and termed the allegations against him a conspiracy to defame him in which some Congress leaders are also involved," the party's state vice president, Devendra Bhasin, said. "The woman in question has dragged others into false cases earlier too," the MLA alleged.

Negi said he is collecting more evidence against the woman to submit to the police. "The woman first tried to blackmail him and when his wife registered an FIR against her, she lodged a complaint with the police leveling false allegations against him (Negi) to save herself," a press release from the state BJP unit said quoting the MLA. Negi also showed some documents to Bhagat.

The state BJP president said the matter is already under investigation and the party is waiting for its outcome. The woman had filed a police complaint against Negi accusing him of raping her several times between 2016 and 2018, while she was booked for allegedly blackmailing him following a complaint by the legislator's wife. In her complaint, the woman claimed he had fathered her child and a DNA test can be conducted to bring out the truth, according to police.