Uttarakhand Political Row Escalates Over Woman's Complaint

DEHRADUN: A fresh political row in Uttarakhand has intensified after former minister Harak Singh Rawat and BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt exchanged accusations over a complaint involving a woman, an earlier investigation and demands for DNA tests. Both leaders have made allegations and counterclaims. Bhatt said on November 5 that asking who the father of the woman’s son is was a legitimate question and that people in the state also wanted an answer. He added that if Rawat was calling for another DNA test, he too was willing to undergo one. Bhatt rejected Rawat’s allegations about an earlier incident in Nandprayag-Ghat, describing them as baseless. He warned that he would file a defamation case if Rawat continued making such statements. Bhatt also argued that a woman’s complaint and demand for justice should not be dismissed as a political conspiracy. Rawat said the matter involving him had ended 23 years ago, after a Central Bureau of Investigation probe, and that he had received relief from the court. He questioned why the old inquiry was being challenged now, noting that the BJP was in power at the Centre under then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when the case emerged. “If there was any irregularity in the DNA test, responsibility also lies with the system in place at that time,” Rawat said, according to the account of his remarks.