In the party’s six-member inquiry committee report, no substantial proof has emerged against Neeraj Chauhan who has been in judicial custody for allegedly blackmailing suspended additional secretary, Home, JP Joshi, said Samajwadi Party State president Satyanarayan Sachan on Tuesday. The party will decide on his candidature from Tehri Parliamentary seat within 15 days, he added.
The Samajwadi Party has almost given a clean chit to its Tehri lok Sabha seat candidate Chauhan who is presently lodged in the Suddhowala jail in connection with a sleaze CD blackmail case. The party state president said that that Chauhan was politically targeted and police had failed to file chargesheet against Chauhan in the court so far.
Moreover, some leaders within the party have been raising the demand for expulsion of Chauhan after he was arrested in this case. According to party leaders, Chauhan’s case had caused embarrassment to the party. Sachan said that a six-member inquiry committee was constituted after he was arrested in the blackmailing case. The committee presented its report recently which stated that the committee members did not find any substantial proof against Chauhan.
Sachan said, “We cannot expel a party leader just because the police have arrested him. Police actions are sometimes carried out in an arbitrary manner.” Sachan said that the decision on whether he remains party’s official candidate for the Tehri lok Sabha seat will be taken within 15 days. It should be mentioned here that Chauhan was arrested by the police for allegedly threatening JP Joshi and demanding Rs 3 crore for not making public, a CD featuring him and a woman in compromising positions. The police claimed to have found evidence of threatening calls to Joshi being made from two numbers of which one belonged to Chauhan.