Umang Singhar denied the charges and claimed his wife had been blackmailing him. (File)
Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA Umang Singhar, a former state minister, has been charged for rape and domestic violence, based on a complaint by his wife. However, the Congress leader, also charged for unnatural sex and criminal intimidation in his native Dhar district, said he has been framed.
His wife also accused him of owning assets in the name of their house help's husband. She alleged his involvement in the suicide of his live-in partner Sonia Bhardwaj, for which the MLA was charged in Bhopal a year ago.
The MLA denied the charges and claimed that his wife had been blackmailing him.
"On November 2, I filed a police complaint against her for mentally harassing and blackmailing me. She threatened to frame me in a false case and demanded Rs 10 crore. A case has been lodged," he said.
State Home Minister Narottam Mishra said the MLA has had "other wives" in the past.
"Former minister Umang Singhar's wife has accused him of rape on the pretext of marriage and mental harassment. He had other wives in the past, according to the police. A case has been registered at Naugon police station," he said.
Singhar, a powerful tribal politician and a three-time MLA, is the nephew of former Chief Minister Jamuna Devi. He was the forest minister in the previous Kamal Nath government and currently represents the Gandhwani seat.
In an internal feud in the Congress in 2019, the politician had accused party veteran Digvijaya Singh of running the government as a shadow Chief Minister.