BJP leader Puneet Tyagi resigns after actress alleges sexual abuse

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and party chief in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur Puneet Tyagi has resigned from his post following allegations of sexual abuse by a Mumbai-based actress.

Tyagi vehemently denied the allegations but resigned on Oct 17 saying he didn't want the party's “image to be sullied.”

The actress, who claimed to have acted in over 250 movies in regional languages — Gujarati, Bhojpuri, and Hindi films — recently alleged that Tyagi sexually exploited her over a long period, causing her a lot of mental distress.

“The BJP leader had developed a rapport with my son by giving him gifts frequently and then started sending me bouquets and other gifts. I had been living with my son in Mumbai after ending ties with my husband. The BJP leader’s intimacy with my son and good behavior with me had prompted me to think that I had found support in my life. We had intimate relations for a few months and later he distanced himself,” the actress said on Oct 14 in a video posted on X.

She was further quoted as saying, “I lodged a complaint with the UP chief minister, the Prime Minister, and top BJP leaders but no one paid heed.”
Tyagi sent his resignation to BJP Uttar Pradesh chief Chaudhary Bhupendra Singh asserting that the allegations against him are “baseless.”

“Still I am submitting my resignation because I do not want the image of our party to be sullied by statements like this… The truth will come out in the open soon and I am ready to accept any decision taken by my party leadership. I am totally innocent.” he wrote in his resignation letter.

Saharanpur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rohit Singh Sajwan was quoted as saying that no police complaint has been lodged yet. ”We do not know anything in this regard. Had there been a complaint, we would have investigated it properly,” Sajwan said.