A BJP district president in Uttar Pradesh has been accused of demanding sexual favours from a woman leader within his own party in exchange for a senior organisational post — allegations that surfaced publicly on Monday through a viral social media video and have since drawn significant political attention.
Deepali Tiwari, a former office-bearer in the BJP’s women’s wing, levelled the accusations against Mohanlal Kushwaha, the party’s district president in Mahoba, during a Facebook Live session. She alleged that Kushwaha sought a sexual relationship with her as a condition for appointing her as the party’s district vice-president.
The video spread rapidly across social media platforms, prompting a swift and pointed response from the Congress party.
According to Tiwari, the incident followed the reconstitution of the party’s local district team. She claimed that when she approached Kushwaha to seek a senior role, he made it explicit that she would need to offer something in return. She alleged that he asked her to spend a night with him and accompany him on trips to Lucknow and Delhi.
The woman also named other party functionaries in her account. District vice-president Pankaj Tiwari allegedly counselled her to comply with Kushwaha’s demands, suggesting it could benefit her political prospects. A separate party worker, identified as Jaipal, allegedly pressured her through repeated late-night phone calls.
She further claimed that refusal to comply was met with threats — specifically, that false cases would be filed against members of her family.
Mohanlal Kushwaha has denied the allegations in full, describing them as baseless and attributing them to a deliberate effort to damage his political reputation.
The Congress party used the incident to mount a broader attack on the BJP. The party shared Tiwari’s video on X, calling the BJP anti-women and accusing the ruling party of protecting those who violate the dignity of women within its own ranks. Congress demanded accountability and asserted that the party’s public stance of championing women’s rights stood in sharp contradiction to the behaviour of its own leaders.
The BJP has not issued any official statement or announced any internal action in response to the allegations as of the time of publication.
The allegations come against a well-documented pattern of harassment-related controversies involving BJP-affiliated figures across states. A 2024 report by the Association for Democratic Reforms, which analysed over 4,600 election affidavits, found that the BJP had the highest number of sitting MPs and MLAs — 54 in total — with declared cases of crimes against women among all national political parties.
