JOIN USGoa Congress chief accuses minister of sex scandal
Alleging a sex scandal, Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar on Tuesday claimed that a state cabinet minister was sexually harassing a woman and that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was using the state police to destroy evidence, including WhatsApp chats between the minister and the woman.
While Chodankar said that Sawant should sack the unnamed minister within 15 days and take legal action against him, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dismissed the accusations as baseless.
“A minister in the Goa government is involved in a sex scandal. By misusing his ministerial status, he has been sexually harassing a woman. This is a serious issue,” Chodankar said at a press conference at the party's state headquarters in Panaji.
“In the photos and the video, the minister is seen in a compromising position with a woman. And the manner in which he is speaking to the woman (shows) he is not even fit to become an MLA. In the audio, you can hear how the woman pleads for her right. The minister even tells her to go for an abortion, but she refuses,” Chodankar said.
The Congress member said that if the party does not take action against the minister, the Congress may put all the evidence in the public domain, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit on December 19.
“The CM does nothing. I was informed again that the CM was going out of the way and is trying to locate the evidence and destroy it,” Chodankar said.
Responding to the allegations, Goa BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade called the accusations baseless. "I want to tell state Congress president Girish Chodankar not to make baseless personal accusations. He has made a big mistake. He should at least name the person or the person against whom the atrocity was committed against, should at least come forward. There is no complaint too. He (Chodankar) may make such allegations against me too. This is a fake charge," Tanavade said.
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