Congress leader Narayan Rane today claimed in the Maharashtra Legislative Council he was recently informed by a woman officer that a senior Cabinet minister engaged in "immoral behaviour" towards her.
Rane made the claim while launching a scathing attack on the BJP-led government over the gruesome gang-rape and murder of a teenage girl in Kopardi village of Ahmednagar district last week.
The former chief minister said he was shocked to hear about the "immoral behaviour" of the Minister towards the woman bureaucrat.
He, however, did not name the Minister or the party to which he belongs.
"The Class 1 lady officer later told another Cabinet minister she will never go to meet that particular Cabinet minister again because of his immoral behaviour," Rane said, who was recently elected to the Upper House.
Taking part in a debate over the Kopardi gang-rape and murder incident, the Congress MLC said time has come to deploy policemen inside the Ministers' offices at Mantralaya so as to keep a watch on their conduct.
Reacting to Rane's claim, Neelam Gorhe (Shiv Sena) asked him to disclose the Minister's identity, saying people will otherwise view all Ministers with suspicion.
During his speech, Rane was acerbic in his criticism of the BJP, alleging criminals were joining the party whose character, he claimed, has changed over the years.
"Today's BJP is not the BJP of yesteryears, of the time of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and late Gopinath Munde. Most BJP members in Jalgaon and Nagpur are criminals," the Shiv Sainik-turned-Congressman said.
Most cases of hooliganism take place in Nagpur city, the hometown of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, he said.
"If the Chief Minister cannot save Nagpur, how will he save Maharashtra?" he said.
The Konkan strongman further remarked if a survey is done on parties having the maximum numbers of criminals in their ranks, the BJP will top the list.
"Tomorrow fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim may surrender, join the BJP and may even become a Minister," he said.
He said the Chief Minister, who also handles the Home portfolio, has "no understanding" of the sensitive department and this has led to the "collapse" of law and order situation in the state.
