A video now viral shows what appears to be Tripura Minister Manoj Kanti Deb putting his hands around a female colleague while onstage, that too in the presence of the Prime Minister. The woman in the video then steps aside to avoid him.
The moment captured on video on 9 February, not independently verified by The Quint, has been shared widely on social media, with the Left Front Opposition demanding that the Minister be sacked and protesters demanding that charges are filed against him.
The person accused, Minister Manoj Kanti Deb who holds the portfolios of Food, Youth Affairs and Sports, has since told The Indian Express that the allegations against him are not true.
The Left Front Opposition has demanded the Minister’s sacking.
"Monoj Kanti Deb must be sacked and be arrested for touching the woman Minister in an extremely indecent manner on the stage from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and others addressed the public gathering,” Left Front convener Bijan Dhar said to The Shillong Times.
The BJP has countered that these claims are being made by an “opportunistic Opposition’’ engaged in “character assassination.’’
The woman minister has since also dismissed the allegations saying to The Indian Express that there was no ill motive, and that there are “certain people in Opposition who are trying to politicise it and blowing it out of proportion.’’
(With inputs from The Indian Express, The Shillong Times.)
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