Major sex scandals involving Indian politicians

New Delhi, Jan 7: Politics and sex always become an explosive cocktail, and there have been umpteen number of cases of politicians being involved in sex scandals across the world. Many politicians consider political power to be the ultimate licence that can win them anything and that enables them in getting away with everything.Women, as usual, are easy prey for these politicians and history has witnessed a plethora of cases where these 'servants of people' have unabashedly shown disrespect to the mothers, daughters and sisters of their electorate.Let's have a look at the some of the major sex scandals involving politicians of independent India: 1.Gopal Kanda & Geetika Sharma scandal (2012):The story of Gopal Kanda, a former Haryana minister, was a typical rags-to-riches story before destiny pulled the rug from under his feet and he was incarcerated for abetting the suicide of Geetika Sharma, a former air-hostess of now-defunct MDLR airlines owned by Kanda.Geetika Sharma committed suicide by hanging herself on August 5, 2012 and left behind a suicide note accusing Gopal Kanda of deliberately harassing her and leaving her with no option than to end her life.Police investigation revealed that Gopal Kanda targeted Geetika from the day one of her joining the MDLR airlines. Gopal Kanda made it mandatory for Geetika to meet him every evening. It is said that Geetika had illicit relationship with Kanda and she underwent abortion a few times.MDLR was shut down in 2009 and in October 2010 it became a part of Emirates Airlines. Geetika moved over to Dubai to join Emirates Airlines but Gopal Kanda sent a letter to Emirates saying that she had been a poor employee and had defaulted on a loan. Kanda wanted her to quit her job and return to India.Gopal Kanda, on the hand, denied all the allegations and said that he always tried to help Geetika Sharma and even financed her MBA course. Not only this, he made her the chairperson of the trust that ran an international school at Sirsa.Police investigations revealed that on August 3, a day before Geetika committed suicide, Kanda's advocate pressurized her over phone to sign on a petition filed in Goa to quash the FIR lodged against another MDLR employee, Ankita Singh.It was same Ankita Singh who was mentioned by Geetika in her suicide note. Geetika had alleged that Kanda had illicit relationship with Ankita and that Kanda had fathered a child with Ankita.It is said that Geetika was jealous of Ankita and she had even fought with Ankita warning her to keep a distance from Kanda. Kanda was a typical philanderer and a frustrated Geetika committed suicide.Gopal Kanda was arrested on August 18 for abetting the suicide of Geetika and is still languishing in the jail. 2. Abhishek Manu Singhvi CD scandal (2012):Senior Congress leader and Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi was caught in a sex scandal after the emergence of a sensational CD that was filmed by a former driver of Singhvi. The CD allegedly showed Abhishek Manu Singhvi in a compromising position with a female advocate inside the hallowed lawyers chambers of Supreme Court! Mukesh Kumar Lal, the driver of Singhvi for several years, was accused of filming the CD secretly and blackmailing Singhvi to make the CD public through media channels.Singhvi approached the Delhi High Court for banning the CD alleging that the content of the CD was morphed. Acting on Singhvi's plea, Delhi High Court banned the publication on broadcasting of the CD but the CD was uploaded on YouTube and Singhvi was deeply embarrassed.The controversy made the Congress party red-faced and the party dropped Singhvi from its media panel. The Congress party, however, has brought him back on the media panel on Nov 2, 2012. 3. Mahipal Maderna – Bhanwari Devi Scandal (2011):Bhanwari Devi, a 36 year old auxiliary nurse and midwife, from Rajasthan came into the limelight after her husband alleged that Mahipal Maderna, the Congress minister in state government, got his wife abducted.The investigation of the case revealed that Bhanwari Devi was blackmailing Maderna and Congress legislator Malkhan Singh and demanded crores of rupees based on a CD in which Maderna and others were seen in a compromising position with Bhanwari Devi. Maderna and Malkhan finally decided to get her eliminated with the help of supari killers. Maderna is under custody and court has framed charges against him. 4. N D Tiwari sex scandal (2009):The entire country was shocked when N D Tiwari, the then governor of Andhra Pradesh was shown in bed with three women at his official residence inside the Raj Bhawan. It was a sting operation carried out by a leading Telugu channel.Tiwari resigned and apologized publicly although he claimed that he was framed by his political opponents.N D Tiwari's character came under the scanner a long time ago when a lady Ujjwala Sharma accused him of fathering his son Rohit Shekhar and the son demanded a DNA test.Tiwari tried his best to avoid the DNA test but was forced to undergo the test by the judiciary. The DNA test proved that Tiwari indeed was the father of Rohit Shekhar. 5. Amarmani Tripathi –Madhumita Shukla scandal (2003):Madhumita Shukla, a 24-year old poetess , was gunned down by two assailants in her apartment in Lucknow on April 9, 2003. Madhumita was seven months pregnant at the time of murder.Police investigation revealed that Madhumita was a lover of Amarmani Tripathi, a minister in UP government.The investigation further revealed that Madhumita was killed at the instructions of Madhumani Tripathi , the wife of Amarmani Tripathi, who got furious after she came to know of Madhumita's affair with her husband.Both Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. 6. Kerala ice-cream parlour sex scandal (1987):In 1987, Kerala was rocked by a sex scandal known as ‘ice-cream sex parlour scandal'.The sex scandal came to light after a Kozikode based NGO filed a complaint alleging that an ice cream parlour was being run as a brothel and a number of girls were being sexually exploited there by powerful sections of the society including politicians, judicial officers and other VIPs. P K Kunhalikutty, a minister belonging to IUML leader, came under scanner in this case and had to resign that time.The case resurfaced in 2011 when a relative of Kunhalikutty alleged that he had helped him in wriggling out of the case using illegal means including bribing the witnesses. 7. Sanjay Joshi sex scandal (2005):Sanjay Joshi, the then general secretary of BJP, was hugely embarrassed when an audio cassette and a VCD , allegedly showing him in compromising position with a woman ,surfaced in 2005.Sanjay Joshi was a RSS prachark and he was known for his tough and no-nonsense approach. It was said that the CD was an outcome of intra-party rivalry. Fingers were also raised at Narendra Modi with whom Joshi had fell out owing to sharp differences.The cassette had the voices of Joshi and the woman was talking about unfulfilled promises.Sanjay Joshi had to resign from his post. He was later rehabilitated in the party but the stigma never allowed him to regain his authority and command. 8. Suresh Ram sex scandal (1978):Jagjivan Ram could well have been the first Dalit Prime Minister of independent India, had his son not entrapped in a sex scandal that came to light when everything was going in favour of Jagjivan Ram. Indira Gandhi was defeated in the Janata Party wave in 1977 and Jagjivan Ram was a favourite for the PM post as he had broken away from the Congress and had a good reputation as an experienced politician and able administrator.Unfortunately for the then deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram, nude pictures of his son Suresh Ram were published in a magazine named ‘Surya' that showed Suresh Ram in compromising positions with a girl named Sushma Chaudhury. What was interesting was the fact that the magazine was edited by none other than Maneka Gandhi, the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi. Clearly, the pictures had more to it than what met the eyes. In those days, the pictures were taken on an automatic polaroid camera. Jagjivan Ram's political fortunes fell, the Janata Party broke into two, the Morarji Desai government fell and Charan Singh, with the outside support of Congress, became the prime minister.9. Harak Singh Rawat sex scandal (2003):Harak Singh Rawat, the then Uttaranchal minister of Congress party, was accused in 2003 by an Assamese woman of having fathered her new born child.Rawat had to resign in the wake of the allegation made. His position became untenable after a fact finding committee of assembly submitted its report that highlighted the firm allegation leveled by the Assamese woman. 10. Bobby murder case (1982):Bihar was rocked in 1982 by the murder of a girl, Bobby, who was working in the Bihar secretariat. The murder caught headlines after the names of a number of ministers belonging to the then Congress government came under scanner. The government at that time was headed by veteran Congress leader Jagannath Mishra.Under immense public pressure and media scrutiny, the case was reopened and the dead body of the girl was exhumed for forensic analysis. Some of the culprits were identified later on.11. Shilpi-Gautam murder case (1999):Bihar witnessed another high profile sex scandal in 1999 that related to Sadhu Yadav, the brother-in-law of Lalu Prasad Yadav. The scandal involved the murder of a girl Shilpi Jain and her friend Gautam. Both Shilpi and Gautam were friends of Sadhu Yadav. Their dead bodies were found inside a car in semi-nude condition.The CBI in its final report had submitted that the lovers committed suicide by consuming poison. This was contrary to the media reports that claimed she was raped and when Gautam came to rescue her, the lovers were made to consume the poison by physical force.The public outcry once again forced the judiciary to order the CBI to submit its diary afresh although nothing concrete could be established against high and mighty ones.