A video clip of BJP leader and former MP Kirit Somaiya was broadcasted by Lokshahi, a Marathi news channel in the beginning of the week. After the circulation of a purported video which showed him in a compromising position with a woman, Several opposition leaders in Maharashtra criticized the former MP on Tuesday. In response to the sensational allegations against Somaiya, he made a statement that ‘he has never abused any women’ and denied his involvement in this incident. He wrote a letter to the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra expressing his concern about the video clip and requested Devendra Fadnavis to conduct a detailed inquiry about the matter.
Once the matter was raised by Ambadas Danve and Anil Parab of the Uddhav Thackeray in the Vidhan Parishad led by Shiv Sena, Devendra Fadnavis made a high-level probe announcement for this issue. “It is an important matter and a thorough investigation will be conducted to find out the women in the video and none of them will be safeguarded”, he said.
The Mumbai Crime Branch wrote a letter to Lokshahi channel asking for the unedited video clips, after the instructions was given to them by the Home Department to clearly examine the matter. Danve gave a pen drive during the session in the house, which contained 8 hours of video where Somaiya is featured in it. Deputy Chairperson of Vidhan Parishad Neelam Gorhe said, “ watching the videos in the pen drive is really a big task and he said that he will ask lady staff to look after the video and give the opinions of the same,he also said that it would be better of the women came forward and filed a complaint against Somaiya,”.
BJP leader Chandrakant Patil made a statement in the house that the name of the leader should ‘not be mentioned’. Reacting to this, Parab said, so many families are being harassed by Central agencies because of “this person”. He said that the truth should be revealed and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) should be appointed to probe this matter and examine whether the woman was blackmailed in any way, pointing out the situation which involved sex extortion.
The leader of Ajit Pawar NCP faction Rupali Thombre-Patil said, ” Kirit Somaiya is a prominent figure who has revealed various instances of corruption and the emergence of these types of videos is highly concerning and regrettable. It is crucial for the authorities to address the situation by creating proper legal proceedings”.
Recently, Somaiya has targeted Opposition leaders like NCP and Congress who were a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government between 2019 & 2022. He approached agencies like Anti-Corruption Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Economic Offences Wing, Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority, Registrar of Companies, Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SIFO) and Income Tax Department demanding action against the Shiv Sena leaders alleging wrongdoing and scams in the country.
