Brajesh Pandey, the brother of ‘neutral’ journalist Ravish Kumar, has been named as the Congress party’s candidate in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
On Thursday, the Congress party released its second and final list of 49 candidates for the remaining two phases of elections, just hours before the nominations ended for the second phase of Bihar elections.
कृपया सिरियल न 9 विधानसभा न 14 गोविंदगंज के प्रत्याशी पर ध्यान दे । @INCIndiaLive ने विश्वविख्यात देश के एक मूर्धन्य पत्रकार के अनुज को चुना है । राजनीति और पत्रकारिता का ऐसा नायाब और बेशर्मी से ओतप्रोत संगम विरले ही होते है ।@ravishndtv pic.twitter.com/gRAuXoCIaT
— Dr. Devendra Kumar (@DrDevendraKumar) October 15, 2020
Interestingly, the Congress party has decided to field NDTV’s ‘neutral’ journalist Ravish Kumar’s brother – Brajesh Pandey from the Govindganj constituency in the East Champaran district. In 2015, Pandey had contested from Govindganj constituency but had lost to the LJP candidate by a margin of nearly 30,000 votes.
Ravish Kumar’s brother Brajesh Pandey was also the vice president of the Congress party unit in Bihar, however, he was forced to resign after he was accused of running a sex racket.
Brajesh Pandey – once an accused for running a sex racket
In 2017, Brajesh Pandey, the brother of ‘journalist’ Ravish Kumar, was accused of running a sex racket in Bihar. Brajesh Pandey, who was also the VP of the Bihar Congress then, had absconded after allegations of sexual harassment was made against him.
Reportedly, a Dalit minor girl, who was the daughter of a Congress leader and former minister, had named Pandey and several other people of sexually abusing her over a period of time.
The girl had then demanded a probe by a senior police officer after rising suspicion that the case might be scuttled or diluted due to the involvement of politically well-connected people, including Brajesh Pandey.
There were also reports that suggested that attempts were being made to suppress the case by exerting political pressure on the authorities. The reports claimed that Brajesh was being shielded as he was the brother of an influential journalist.
The Congress leader was then booked under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) on the basis of a victim’s complaint.
Another accused in the case, Nikhil Priyadarshi, is a leading businessman in the automobile sector and the son of retired IAS officer. The girl had claimed that she was lured by Priyadarshi by promising to marry her. However, the victim realised that the accused, along with others, was running a sex racket.
Later, the Bihar sex scandal case involving Pandey was buried after the complainant girl reached a compromise with the accused. The Dalit girl had stated that she would marry the person whom she had accused of running a sex racket and sexually exploiting her.
