BJP claims there could be conspiracy behind rape case against Harak Singh Rawat

Sniffing a conspiracy behind the rape case against Harak Singh Rawat, BJP said on Saturday his vocal style of politics may have prompted his adversaries to lodge a case against the former minister who was disqualified as an MLA along with eight Congress legislators after revolting against the Harish Rawat government.

"Though we don't have details of the case yet, police should be allowed to investigate the case and law take its course. But the possibility of a conspiracy behind this cannot be ruled out. "Earlier also similar complaints involving women have been lodged against him but in each case he either got a clean chit or the complainant later withdrew," Pradesh BJP spokesman Munna Singh Chauhan said.

"Harak Singhji has an extremely vocal style of politics due to which he is constantly in the limelight. This may have made his political adversaries come up with a made-up case against him," he said. A rape case was lodged against the former Rudraprayag MLA at Delhi's Safdarjung police station on Friday. Similar cases have been lodged against him in the past.

While in a 2003 case he got a clean chit from CBI, in 2014 a case of molestation was lodged against him wherein the woman had subsequently withdrawn her complaint. Harak Singh was among the nine Congress MLAs who had revolted against the Rawat government in the state Assembly on March 18. He is now with BJP along with the rest of the rebel MLAs.