FIR filed against Karnataka BJP leader Arun Kumar Puthila for alleged sexual harassment, blackmail
Puttur: An FIR has been filed against Arun Kumar Puthila, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka, following allegations of sexual harassment and blackmail. The complaint was filed by a 47-year-old woman at the Puttur Women’s Police Station.
According to reports, the complainant, who was initially supportive of Puthila due to his Hindutva ideology and supported him on social media, alleged that he invited her to a hotel in Bengaluru in 2023, where she was sexually assaulted. She further claimed that BJP leader blackmailed her using selfies, photos, audio, and videos taken during the purported assault.
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The accused has been charged with cheating, sexual harassment, and criminal intimidation.
Puthila had unsuccessfully contested the Puttur Assembly elections as a rebel candidate against the BJP but joined the saffron party ahead of the recent Lok Sabha elections.
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Ajit Pawar wins Baramati battle, defeats nephew Yugendra by more than 1 lakh votes
Baramati, Nov 23: Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Ajit Pawar on Saturday won from his traditional Baramati assembly constituency by defeating his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar by more than one lakh votes.
Ajit, who parted ways with his uncle Sharad Pawar last year and was seeking an eighth term from this family bastion in Pune district, polled 1,81,132 votes while Yugendra Pawar polled 80,233 votes.
Ajit, thus, defeated his younger brother's son by 1,00,899 votes.
Five months ago, Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) had triumphed in Baramati in the Lok Sabha elections, with incumbent MP and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule defeating Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra by a margin of 1.5 lakh votes.
Both the NCP factions did not leave a single stone unturned during the assembly campaign, and even Sharad Pawar's wife Pratibha Pawar and Sule's daughter Revati were seen campaigning for Yugendra, while Ajit Pawar brought his mother on stage during his concluding rally in Baramati.
While Sharad Pawar told the people of Baramati that they needed a new leadership, alluding to Yugendra Pawar whom he described as a highly-educated candidate, Ajit Pawar cautioned people not to fall prey to the "emotional pitch" by the senior Pawar.
After Saturday's results, Ajit Pawar, who along with several other NCP legislators sided with the BJP-Shiv Sena government in 2023, could claim to be the real political heir of his estranged uncle who founded the NCP in 1999.
Sunetra Pawar, now a Rajya Sabha member, thanked the people of Baramati for reposing their faith once again in `Dada' (elder brother in Marathi, as Ajit is fondly called).
