Railway Minister Lalu Prasad defended his party MP Rajesh Kumar Manjhi, whose wife has accused him of taking another woman as his spouse on an official tour
NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Wednesday defended his party MP Rajesh Kumar Manjhi, whose wife has accused him of taking another woman as his spouse on an official tour, saying that he was being "framed" as he belonged to a backward community.
"There is nothing substantial in the allegation, it is all because he is a 'Mushahar' (a backward community)," the RJD leader told reporters here.
A parliamentary committee is examining in detail a complaint by the wife of Manjhi that he took another woman as his spouse on an official tour.
The committee, which was set up after BJP MP Babubhai Katara was arrested for suspected human trafficking, has heard the RJD leader's wife in person who accused her husband of pressurising her to withdraw her written complaint.
Committee sources said Manjhi, also a member of the standing committee on women's empowerment, faces allegations that he travelled with another woman on official expenses meant for spouses of the lawmakers during their visits abroad as part of parliamentary delegations.
"The RJD leader's case took a curious turn when his wife appeared before the committee, which called her after she had withdrawn her complaint. She said her husband's personal assistant pressurised her to withdraw the complaint, and produced a handwritten draft that the MP's aide had given her to copy and sign," a committee source said.
The committee, the source added, has now sought detailed information about the related travel records.
Committee sources said the case came while the panel, set up to probe suspected misconduct of lawmakers, has yet to begin its exercise on charges against Katara, who is jailed.
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