The Opposition Congress in Uttarakhand has threatened to launch a movement if no action is taken against a BJP lawmaker who has been accused by a woman of sexual exploitation and refusal to accept that he had fathered her child.

Although the woman had sought to register a complaint against Mahesh Singh Negi, the MLA of Dwarahat in Almora, 15 days ago, police have allegedly not accepted it formally, but have acted with promptness to register an FIR against her when the leader’s wife accused her of blackmail two days ago.

“The woman has said she has been receiving threat calls. The wife of the BJP’s Dwarahat MLA is offering her money to remain silent, and at the same time she has registered a case of blackmail against the victim. While the police are yet to register a case against the BJP MLA, it was quick to book the victim in a false case of blackmailing and demanding money from Negi,” said Preetam Singh, the president of the Uttarakhand Congress, on Wednesday.

“The woman is saying that the BJP MLA is the father of her daughter and has been demanding a DNA test. The government should have heard the victim instead of harassing her. We will soon start a movement against the (Trivendra Singh) Rawat government if she does not get justice,” he added.

Rita Negi, the MLA’s wife, registered the blackmail complaint at Nehru Colony police station in Dehradun on Monday.

The woman who has alleged sexual exploitation said she had submitted her complaint against the MLA at the same police station two weeks ago but the police were yet to turn it into an FIR.

“Negi and I have been in a relationship since 2018. We have a one-year-old daughter,” the woman, who is married and is a resident of Almora, told reporters in Dehradun on Wednesday.

“The wife of the MLA called me on August 5 and offered me Rs 25 lakh to remain silent. When I refused and demanded a DNA test on her husband, she registered a case of blackmail against me,” she added.