BJP's Saharanpur chief resigns after actress alleges sexual exploitation: Report
In a video uploaded on social media, an actress alleged that BJP Saharanpur chief Puneet Tyagi sexually exploited her.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Puneet Tyagi, who is the party's city unit chief in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, has resigned from his post following allegations of sexual exploitation, posed by an actress. Tyagi vehemently denied the allegations but resigned because he didn't want the party's “image to be sullied,” reported The Indian Express.
A Mumbai-based actress, who claimed to have acted in over 250 movies in regional languages, posted a video on X and other social media platforms alleging that Tyagi had sexually exploited her over a long period, causing her a lot of mental distress.
“The BJP leader had developed a rapport with my…son by giving him gifts frequently and then started sending me bouquets and other gifts. I had been living with my son in Mumbai after ending ties with my husband. The BJP leader’s intimacy with my son and good behaviour with me had prompted me to think that I had found support in my life. We had intimate relations for a few months and later he distanced himself,” the actress said in the video, as quoted by The Indian Express.
She further claimed, “I lodged a complaint with the UP chief minister, the Prime Minister, and top BJP leaders but no one paid heed.
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Puneet Tyagi sent his resignation to BJP Uttar Pradesh chief Chaudhary Bhupendra Singh and asserted that the allegations against him are “baseless.”
The BJP leader wrote in his resignation letter, “Still I am submitting my resignation because I do not want the image of our party to be sullied by statements like this… The truth will come out in the open soon and I am ready to accept any decision taken by my party leadership. I am totally innocent.”
As of now, no remarks have been issued by the Saharanpur or Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJP in the matter. No police complaint against Tyagi has been lodged, therefore, no investigation has been initiated in the matter.