Maharashtra Tourism Minister Jaykumar Rawal was accused of indulging in dubious land deals.
A day after NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik accused Maharashtra minister Jaykumar Rawal of dubious land deals, the latter said today that he would file a defamation suit against the NCP leader as the charges levelled against him were "baseless".
Mr Rawal, district guardian minister of Dhule in north Maharashtra, today said he has been hurt by the allegations and decided to take serious note of it.
"The allegations are completely baseless. But I have decided to take legal action against Malik. I will file a defamation suit against him," Mr Rawal told PTI.
When asked about Mr Rawal's threat of filing a defamation suit against him, the NCP leader said, "I welcome Rawal's decision to prosecute me. I will provide all the documents before the court in support of my allegations."
Accusing the tourism minister of indulging in dubious land deals, Mr Malik had yesterday said that Mr Rawal had purchased a piece of land in his native Dhule district in 2012 even after the same land had been notified for acquisition for a thermal power project by the state government in 2009. The government later scrapped the multi-crore thermal project and instead proposed a solar power project.
Making a sensational claim, Mr Malik had alleged that Mr Rawal was also involved in "grabbing" the land belonging to former President Pratibha Patil in north Maharashtra.