FIR against Dhananjay Munde for remarks on cousin Pankaja
Beed: An FIR has been lodged against NCP leader Dhananjay Munde for allegedly making obscene comments against his estranged cousin and Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde at an election rally, a police official said on Sunday.
The NCP leader, however, said the clip was edited and fake, and his remarks were "distorted" to project him as a "villain" by his rivals to win elections.
A video purportedly showing the NCP leader making the remarks against the minister went viral on social media, following which a BJP functionary from Parli in Beed district filed a police complaint against him on Saturday, he said.
Both the cousins are locked in a battle from Parli segment for Monday's state Assembly polls. Pankaja Munde, the sitting BJP MLA from Parli, is the daughter of late party veteran Gopinath Munde.
"Acting on the complaint filed by Parli BJP president Jugal Kishor Lohiya, the FIR was lodged late Saturday night against Dhananjay Munde under Indian Penal Code Sections 500 (defamation), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman) and 294 (obscene act in public place)," Parli police station in-charge Purushottam Chobe said.
Lohiya in his complaint said the NCP leader allegedly made the obscene remarks against the BJP minister at a public meeting held at Vida village in Kej tehsil on October 17.
The BJP has also complained to the Election Commission and the women's commission against the NCP leader's remarks.
Some BJP workers also burnt his effigy at Shirur-Kasar tehsil here on Saturday night.
However, Dhananjay Munde said the clip was being circulated on social media by "distorting" his comments to "deliberately" defame him and project him as a "villain".
"My speech at Vida has been tampered with. This is clearly an attempt (by rivals) to make me a villain and win the elections," he said at a press conference here on Sunday.
"I have succeeded in politics on my own. I sacrificed Parli constituency for Pankaja Munde (apparently referring to 2009 when Gopinath Munde fielded his daughter)," he said.
