In a major embarrassment for the BJP, several of its leaders have been accused of being involved in a child-trafficking ring busted in North Bengal, and a state-level leader of the party arrested in connection with it.
Actor-turned-politician Roopa Ganguly, who achieved India-wide fame by playing Draupadi in the Doordarshan serial Mahabharat, is allegedly involved in the case.
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The main accused in the case, Chandana Chakraborty, has told investigators that West Bengal BJP Women's Wing general secretary Juhi Chowdhury spoke to state BJP leader and actor-turned-politician Roopa Ganguly and BJP national national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya to reportedly smooth over a few things in connection with the children's home where the trafficking racket was busted.
"I have not spoken to anyone," Chandana told reporters in Siliguri on Tuesday. She added: "Juhi spoke to them and perhaps to Roopa Ganguly and Kailash Vijayvargiya. I was sitting in another room when she spoke to them."
Juhi Chowdhury has now been arrested by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal from Siliguri, after Chandana named her as a conduit in the child-trafficking operations. It may be noted here that after Juhi's name cropped up in the case, Roopa Ganguly had stirred a hornet's nest by saying that state BJP president Dilip Ghosh had appointed Juhi to the post of the party's state Women's Wing president.
BJP denies allegations
As expected, the BJP has denied all the allegations against its leaders and instead said this is a politically-motivated witch-hunt where the instigator is the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress and the implementer is the state police, whose CID branch has arrested Juhi Chowdhury.
Vijayvargiya was quoted by a Hindu report as saying: "They [the Trinamool Congress] have already targeted our party leaders Joyprakash Majumdar and Sishir Bajoria. Now they are conspiring against me." He later told ANI: "Of course if she [Juhi Chowdhury] is involved then she must be punished. But we do not trust investigations of the West Bengal government."
Ganguly herself said she was being targeted as part of a political conspiracy. "It is all being done to actually frame me. She [Juhi Chowdhury] is being used as a pawn. This will not scare us."
