Maharashtra: Dhananjay Munde survives scare, keeps job

Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde has survived a resignation scare The Nationalist Congress Party NCP bosses dismissed any case against him after the woman who accused him of rape has been accused of blackmail by at least three people including leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS NCP boss Sharad Pawar said on Friday that all cases should be thoroughly probed in the wake of the charges made against the woman before arriving at any conclusion in Mundersquos caseldquoPrima facie the charges against the minister appeared serious when I spoke about it on Thursday I said so considering that the accusations were made by a woman However the information that three people including politicians of different ideologies shared with the media and police changed the situation completelyrdquo said Pawar adding that he has suggested that a woman officer of the rank of assistant commissioner of police probe the caseldquoWe must know the truth Anyone who faces allegations cannot step aside just because charges are made against him or her We would have been talking about something else today had the three people not spoken their mind on Fridayrdquo said PawarHours after the woman tweeted wondering if mighty people who have ganged up against her want her to back off her lawyer Ramesh Tripathi said on Friday that allegations made by Krishna Hegde of the BJP Manish Dhuri of MNS and a former Jet Airways employee Rizwan Sheikh were baseless Earlier in the day the woman had tweeted that Hegde met her at Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaikrsquos birthday and contacted her after their first encounterldquoMy client has asked me to tell you that the allegations made against her are false and baseless She wanted to share her views with you today but some legal work has held her back She will present her say on Saturday after recording her statement at the police stationrdquo said TripathiLawyer threatenedTripathi said he was being threatened on phone by unknown people to drop the case ldquoI can fight the case only if Irsquom safe I have lodged a complaint with the Navi Mumbai policerdquo he said adding that his client has clinching evidence including videos According to the lawyer a high court case that Munde is fighting with the accusers sister with whom the minister has two children and her case are different ldquoNo man has the right to rape his wifersquos sisterrdquo said TripathiBJPrsquos protestThe BJPrsquos womenrsquos wing announced a statewide agitation demanding Mundersquos resignation from Monday Wing president Uma Khapre said the chief minister should have taken Mundersquos resignation but hasnrsquot said a word about the incident BJP workers will give respective district collectors a memorandum seeking justice for the survivor ldquoThe survivor is trying to get an FIR registered but to no avail The government which prepares to make a Shakti Law to protect women against crime isnrsquot helping her The CM should ensure a fair probe against a minister who ironically heads the social justice departmentrdquo said Khapre in a statement