Pathankot: In a major blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party Party, its candidate for the Gurdaspur by-poll in Punjab Swaran Salaria has been accused of raping woman for 32 years.
The intimate photographs of Salaria in the company of a Mumbai-based woman has gone viral on social media.
The complaint, in her mid 40s has moved the Supreme Court with her plea against Salaria claiming that she was physically exploited by him between 1982 and 2014 on the pretext of marrying her, reported India Today.
The woman in her statement said that initially Salaria kept her in a paying guest accommodation but later gave her a flat to live in.
Swaran Salaria, the BJP candidate from Gurdaspur is also a Mumbai-based businessman said that the allegations are incorrect to tarnish his image.
Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal had alleged Salaria had submitted to the EC that no criminal case had been pending against him.
“We are submitting a complaint to the Election Officer besides the Election Commission. Swaran Salaria is already facing a case under IPC Sections 376, 420 and 306 besides the SC Act, which was registered on 15th of December 2014. His nomination should be cancelled immediately,” Manpreet Badal said.
The Punjab Congress had urged the Election Commission to cancel Salaria’s candidature alleging he had failed to inform the poll body about the case.
The Gurdaspur bypoll, scheduled for October 11, was necessitated following the death of BJP MP Vinod Khanna earlier this year.