NCP says charges against Munde serious; BJP seeks resignation

Amid demand for the resignationof Maharashtra Minister Dhananjay Munde, accused of rape by aMumbai woman, his party NCP on Thursday said the issue will bediscussed internally and a call will be taken on his fatefollowing the charges which it termed as serious.

NCP president Sharad Pawar said the allegation againstthe Social Justice Minister was serious and added the partywill discuss the issue and decide on it ''as soon as possible.

Pawar told reporters that Munde (45) met him onWednesday and explained the details in connection with theallegation.

''I think the allegation against him (Munde) isserious. Naturally, we will have to discuss the issue as aparty. I will discuss the same in detail with my keycolleagues and take them into confidence,'' Pawar said.

''Further steps will be taken after knowing theirviews. We will do this as soon as possible, he added.

Munde told reporters that Pawar and other leaders ofthe party will take a call on the issue of his resignation.

Maharashtra NCP president and state minister JayantPatil said Munde will not resign just because someone has madeallegations, but asserted the issue will discussed inside theNCP and a decision will be taken based on facts.

Talking to reporters, Jayant Patil said any conclusionshould be reached only based on police probe outcome into thematter.

The Water Resources Minister said so far there hasbeen neither any discussion in the party over Mundesresignation nor the latter has offered to resign.

Munde was being blackmailed and he had made acomplaint to the police. We should reach any conclusion basedon the outcome of the police probe. We need not jump to aconclusion, Jayant Patil said.

Jayant Patil said Munde had made a complaint about hisalleged blackmailing by the woman at the Bandra PoliceStation, but the cops did not take appropriate action on thesame.

Hence, Munde had approached the Bombay High Court,Jayant Patil said.

Now, the police should conduct an initial probe intothe matter. I am sure you will take note if some woman isdefaming a politician by levelling random allegations, headded.

Seconding Pawar, Jayant Patil said the allegationagainst Munde is serious and added facts need to be checked.

It is also not expected of the party to take anydecision without verifying the truth if anyone levelsallegation against someone, he said.

Jayant Patil said the Shiv Sena-led government, ofwhich the NCP is a key partner, is not interfering in thematter.

The situation will definitely be reviewed inside theparty. If need be, we will take appropriate positions based onfacts at the level of the Chief Minister (Uddhav Thackeray),Jayant Patil said.

It will not happen that he will resign just becausesomeone has made allegations, he added.

The 37-year-old woman, an aspiring singer, had saidshe wrote to the Mumbai police commissioner on January 10,stating that Munde repeatedly raped her in 2006. She alsoclaimed that she approached the Oshiwara police here earlierbut her complaint was ignored.

Munde, an NCP leader from Beed district, has deniedthe allegations, claiming he is being blackmailed by the womanand her sister.

Speaking to reporters separately, Shiv Sena MP SanjayRaut termed the issue involving Munde as personal andfamilial.

I think we should leave it to Dhananjay Munde. It iscompletely his personal, familial matter. And he will find away out of it, Raut said.

He also said that the NCPs leadership is discerningand matured to take a call on the issue.

Without naming any opposition party, Raut said that itis an illusion if they think Mundes character assassinationwill bedevil the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

I dont think the opposition has levelled directallegations. But I can only say that this is not a politicalissue, but of the family, Raut said.

Meanwhile, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)demanded the resignation of Munde.

State BJP president Chandrakant Patil said Mundeshould step down immediately.

Minister Munde has been accused of sexual harassmentand he has no right to be in the cabinet. A minister wouldimmediately tender his resignation following such allegationsbut this thick-skinned government is unlikely to take anyaction against him, but we will press our demand, ChandrakantPatil said.

However, leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis took amore cautious stand when asked with the charges against Mundeand his resignation.

We need to consider both the sides before making anydemand. The party (NCP) and the chief minister should lookinto it,'' Fadnavis said.

Munde has said the woman's claims were part of aconspiracy to blackmail him. He, however, acknowledged that hewas in a relationship with the woman's sister and has twochildren with her.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Munde said his wife,family and friends were aware of this relationship, adding thetwo kids have been accepted by his family.

BJP leader and former MP Kirit Somaiya has written tothe Election Commission, saying Munde did not mention abouthis son and daughter from the relationship in his pollaffidavit.

Meanwhile, asked about the arrest of the son-in-law ofcabinet minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik in a drugs case bythe NCB, Jayant Patil I dont think it should reflect onMalik if his son-in-law has committed any mistake.

''We dont know if he (the son-in-law) has committedany mistake or not. It will be known during the probe.

To another question, Patil accused the Centre ofharassing its opponents using probe agencies.

Asked about the NCBs action against Maliks son-in-law, Raut said, A central team took action against Malikskin. It is clear then what this is. Malik keeps forth the sideof the Maha Vikas Aghadi strongly.

Raut said he does not know the details of the matter,but added such action is being taken in a pre-decidedmanner.

I saw today that the ED raided the premises of a keyleader of TMC. This causes doubts in the minds of the peoplewhether leaders are being targeted in a pre-decided manner.

Such things had happened in the past when there hadbeen different parties in power at the Centre and in thestate. This keeps happening be it any government, Raut said.

PTI ENM ND VTRSY RSY