Bengal man denies sexual exploitation charge against BJP's Amit Malviya, decries Congress

West Bengal-based Santanu Sinha on Tuesday withdrew allegations of sexual exploitation of women against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s IT cell head Amit Malviya. Sinha alleged that Malviya sexually exploited women while he was staying in Bengal. 

In a lengthy Facebook post, Santanu Sinha called the Congress the 'nastiest' and 'most corrupt political party'. He accused the grand old party of spreading a "hate campaign" against Malviya and the BJP. 

He further said that his previous post does not mention about the alleged sexual exploitation of women by the BJP IT cell chief. "Rather, I have expressed my fear that Mr Malviya will be drawn to into a honeytrap by the unscruplous leaders of the party to remain clinging to their post despite such a debacle in the recently held election," he said.

On Monday, Congress sought the removal of Malviya from his position after Sinha's post on alleged post on 'sexual exploitation' dated June 7 started doing the rounds. Congress' Supriya Shrinate said in a press conference that an independent probe into the incident is possible only if Malviya is removed from his position. 

Furthermore, he mentioned that he was a 'Sangha Swayam Sevak', former State Secretary of ABVP as well as contestant in the State Assembly election and in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation election.

The RSS, however, has said that Sinha is not and has never been associated with the organisation in any official capacity, India Today reported quoting sources. He added that he 'did not want the Bharatiya Janata Party and its office bearers to get undermined in any manner by misinterpretation of his post.' 

"I want to give a clear message that the post was not aimed to malign Mr Malviya but as caution not to get entangled in a honeytrap, which was first brought to light by Mr Tathagata Roy, ex-president of the state unit and former governor of Tripura with the phrase Kamini Kanchan", he added.

Citing similar allegations against senior BJP leaders including Kailash Vijayavargiya, Pradip Joshi and Siddharth Nath Sing, he said the party has had a "bitter experience" of honey traps in the past. He added that many cases are still pending in court. 

He also claimed that West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee has 'threatened' several times to bring out the clips of the honey traps. "None from the state BJP has ever tried to know the purport of the post, but played a dubious role."

He also said that the legal notice sent by Malviya was circulated in the media to create pressure on him on one hand and on the other, to divert the responsibility for the BJP's failure in the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal. Santanu Sinha further claimed that de-facto president of West Bengal BJP Jagannath Chattopadhyay was behind circulating the legal notice. 

"If my post hurts Mr Malaviya and/or undermines my party because of such misinterpretation and edited version, I do express my heart-felt sorrow for the same. Since I have not written anything untoward in my post, with the mission to malign anyone, I am not withdrawing the post, the bone of contention", Sinha maintained.

Meanwhile, Amit Malviya on Monday sued Sinha for Rs 10 crore over defamation. In the notice, Malviya sought the removal of Sinha's "false and derogatory" post from social media and give him 72 hours to give an explanation. 

"If no or inadequate response is received, appropriate legal action will be followed and taken to a logical conclusion. A statement as required will be issued then", the legal notice said.