BJP leader says he was acquitted by court in case; speaker forwards motion to privilege committee
Jaykumar Gore, rural development and panchayat raj minister
Allegations of BJP leader, state cabinet minister and MLA Jaykumar Gore harassing a woman—raised by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut and Rohit Pawar of the NCP-SP—have reached the state legislature.
An irked Gore, on Thursday, moved a privilege motion in response to the accusations levelled against him by Raut, the executive editor of Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana, Pawar and a YouTube channel. The motion has been accepted by Rahul Narwekar, speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
The previous day, Raut, Pawar and the channel had mentioned a case of a woman complaining of harassment by Gore. Refuting the charges, Gore, who holds charge of the rural development and panchayat raj department in the Mahayuti government, moved a breach of privilege motion against Raut, Pawar and the channel for maligning his image.
During the discussion over the motion, Gore claimed in the Assembly that the case in question was an old one. “The case was tried before the court and I was acquitted,” he said. The latest statements by the Opposition camp are nothing but an attempt to malign my image, the minister added.
Participating in the discussion, BJP MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar suggested that a decision on the motion should be taken at the earliest. “A decision should come before the ongoing state budget session concludes [on March 26],” the former BJP minister said.
Taking cognisance of the concerns raised by Gore and other members of the Assembly, Narwekar accepted the motion. “The motion will be forwarded to the privilege committee for further action on the same,” the speaker said. Meanwhile, Rohit Pawar, grandnephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, told mid-day on Vidhan Bhavan premises that he had only voiced the complaint of the woman. “A woman had been talking about harassment. As a public representative, I just reiterated concerns raised by the complainant,” he stated.
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