The Karnataka government under Siddharamaiah was left red-faced, thanks to the state excise minister HY Meti quitting due to an alleged sex scandal. Meti, was caught in the midst of a sex scandal, wherein a video clip of Meti in a compromising position with a woman, went public. The woman was reportedly had approached him, seeking a favour. The minister, who was denying any existence of any CD of his 'sexapade', submitted his resignation to the Karnataka chief minister on today.
But this isn’t the first such incident wherein a politician's life was rocked by a sex scandal. Below is a list of such scandals that has left Indian politics 'embarrassed'.
• Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister sacked minister Sandeep Kumar from his cabinet over an 'objectionable' CD, that CD contained a sex tape. Kumar was the minister for child welfare and social justice in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) cabinet. This incident took place earlier this year.
• In November 2016, Karnataka’s education minister Tanveer Sait, was caught allegedly watching obscene pictures on his mobile at an official function. Sait, however, had denied the charge and clarified that he was watching a similar function being held at his home town Mysuru and was uploaded on Whatsapp.
• In December 2015, Odisha Assembly speaker Niranjan Pujari suspended Congress MLA Naba Kishore Das for seven days for watching porn clips inside the assembly on his mobile phone. The issue was referred to the ethics committee for further probe.
• In 2013, then finance minister of Madhya Pradesh, Raghavji Lakhamsi Savala was accused of sodomising a male domestic help. The victim in his report mentioned that the minister had lured him with a government job. Raghavji had to resign as soon as the CD surfaced.
• In 2013, Former Rajasthan minister Babulal Nagar landed himself after a woman from Jaipur accused him of sexually exploiting her. She alleged that the minister promised her a government job and then sexually assaulted her.
• In 2012, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Rajya Sabha MP and Congress spokesperson was allegedly caught in a compromising position in his Supreme Court chamber. Mukesh Kumar Lal, the driver of Singhvi, who is also one of the leading lawyers, was accused of filming the CD secretly and threatening Singhvi to make the CD public. As a result, Singhvi had to resign as the Congress spokesperson and chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on law and justice.
• Air hostess Geetika Sharma fell prey to former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda's lust. Geetika worked with Kanda's MLDR Airlines. But after she was allegedly harassed by Kanda, she ended her life in 2012. In her suicide note, Geetika alleged that Kanda was responsible for the suicide, followed by which Kanda was arrested. On 4 March 2014, Kanda was granted bail after the Delhi High Court dropped the case.
• The Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan had a setback in 2011 when water resources minister, Mahipal Maderna was involved in a sex scandal. Bhanwari Devi, an auxiliary nurse and midwife went missing and the case came into limelight after her husband accused Maderna of kidnapping her. Bhanwari Devi had tried to strike a deal with the minister in which she demanded money in return of a video clip that showed her in compromising positions with Maderna.
• ND Tiwari veteran Congress leader and former CM of UP and Uttarakhand was serving as the AP governor in 2009. Tiwari quit after allegations about his involvement in a sex romp in the Raj Bhawan surfaced. In 2008, Rohit Shekhar Tiwari associated with Congress, filed a paternity suit claiming Tiwari to be his biological father. The court ordered that a DNA mapping of Tiwari be done, the results of which were released on Friday, 27 July 2012. It was established that Tiwari is the biological father of Rohit Shekhar Tiwari.
• In 2005, Sanjay Joshi, BJP general secretary came into the spotlight for the sex scandal that hit the party. He had to sacrifice the general secretary's post following the alleged sex scandal. After it was proved that the controversial CD was allegedly doctored; he was later re-inducted in the party.
• Former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi got a lifer for murdering poetess Madhumita Shukla who was carrying his unborn child and had refused to abort it despite repeated threats. In 2003, Madhumita was allegedly shot dead. The incident had created uproar in Uttar Pradesh, leading to Tripathi's exit from the Mayawati cabinet.
• Harak Singh Rawat, the then Uttrakhand revenue minister was accused in 2003 by an Assamese woman, Indira Deori, to be the father of her newborn child. The political storm that followed her allegation lost steam when the CBI in its report to the court stating that the DNA of the child did not match to that of the Congress leader.
• In 1999, Bihar saw a high-profile sex scandal related to Sadhu Yadav, brother-in-law of former CM Lalu Prasad Yadav. The scandal involved the murder of a girl Shilpi Jain and her friend Gautam, who were friends of Sadhu. Their bodies were found inside a car in a semi-nude condition. Though a CBI investigation concluded that the duo consumed poison. This was contrary to the media reports which claimed that Shilpi was raped and when Gautam came to her rescue, the two were made to consume poison.
• In 1997, the then deputy CM of Maharashtra, Gopinath Munde's image took a battering after his affair with Tamasha dancer Barkha Patil came out in open. Munde denied these allegations and blamed his political rivals but also refrained from filing cases against the newspapers that were covering the affair thoroughly.
• In 1997, the ice-cream parlour sex scandal rocked Kerala, when PK Kunhalikutty, an Indian Union Muslim League minister, came under the scanner. The scandal relates to allegations that an ice-cream parlour in Kozhikode was being used to lure young women into prostitution. Following these charges, Kunhalikutty quit as the industries minister.
(With inputs from agencies)