Bhopal:
Disgraced former Madhya Pradesh finance minister Raghavji was on Sunday expelled from BJP following sodomy allegations levelled against him by a youth even as police booked him in the matter.
Claiming that he would come out clean, Raghavji, who was forced to resign from State Cabinet after his servant accused him of sexual abuse and a sleaze video CD alleegdly showed him in the act, celebrated his 79th birthday with a lot of pomp and show in his constituency, Vidisha.
DIG Bhopal D Sriniwas Verma told PTI that an FIR in the matter has been registered against him by the police at the Habibganj police station on the complaint of Rajkumar Dangi.
"After watching developments for the last two days in Raghavji's case, with the complainant first addressing the media and later going to the police station to record his statement, the BJP has decided to expel him from its primary membership," Madhya Pradesh BJP president Narendra Singh Tomar announced at a hurriedly called press conference here.
Tomar said that the decision to expel Raghavji from the BJP's primary membership was taken by senior party leaders including Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, former chief ministers Sunderlal Patwa and Kailash Joshi, BJP national vice president Prabhat Jha, MP BJP's Election Campaign Cell Head Anil Dave and MP BJP vice president Raghunandan Sharma.
The decision was taken on the basis of developments which unfolded since the last two days, which prima facie, the party concluded, was the appropriate response at the moment.
On reports published in a daily claiming that a woman had submitted an affidavit alleging sexual exploitation by MP BJP's Organisational General Secretary Arvind Menon, Tomar said, "It was totally baseless and the matter was in 2011 and it was established that there was no substance in it".
Answering a question, he justified the suspension of BJP leader Shiv Shankar Pateria from the party's primary membership on the grounds that a party worker should not indulge in activities like preparing compact discs (CDs).
Tomar said that the Raghavji incident pained him and that he is announcing this decision with a heavy heart.
Earlier in the day, the victim, Rajkumar Dangi appeared before reporters at the official residence of the Congress Leader of the Opposition Ajay Singh and narrated his ordeal.
He alleged that Raghavji lured him to his residence with a promise to get him a government job and later indulged in all kinds of unnatural acts with him.
Manwhile, the controversy did not mar Raghavji's 79th birthday celebrations on Sunday with his wife Hiraben, Vidisha municipal body chairman, and his daughter Jyoti Shah.
Raghavji said that it was a conspiracy against him and that he would come clean out of it.
He said that he didn't know Rajkumar's family and since he was present with the Leader of Opposition, it was clear that the Congress had used him.
The former minister also alleged that Pateria too had joined hands with the Congress.
