Row erupts in Uttarakhand over BJP leader tossing money at woman dancer at party

Dehradun, Feb 26 (PTI) A controversy erupted in Uttarakhand over a purported video surfaced online showing former BJP MLA Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion tossing cash at a woman dancer at a party.

After receiving criticism from state Congress president Ganesh Godiyal for the act, Champion hit back with an allegation of his own, saying Godiyal and Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat had been part of a dance party in Mumbai over two decades ago.

At the centre of the row is a video showing him on a chair showering money at a woman dancer who seemed to be performing for him.

Releasing a video response to the criticism, Champion, a four-time MLA, said, "I am a wrestler, I don't dance. I was just sitting there like Dharmendra at the party." But Harak Singh Rawat and Godiyal danced at the Mumbai party held at a club, he claimed.

Champion was among 10 Congress MLAs who joined the BJP in 2016. Later he was suspended for over a year by the BJP over a video showing him dancing with guns. He also courted controversy last year for a public showdown with Khanpur MLA Umesh Kumar that included waving guns by both leaders.

Godiyal admitted to having hosted the party back in Mumbai in the early 2000s but said it was arranged at the request of some MLAs. BJP's Uttarakhand unit chief Mahendra Bhatt had also attended the party, he claimed.

"I spent a lot of money organising that party, and people wanted the party to be arranged are now accusing me," the Congress leader said.

Harak Singh Rawat refused to comment on the allegations, saying that he would not stoop to such low levels as Champion. Bhatt denied that he had ever attended any dance party in Mumbai. PTI DPT SKY SKY