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The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday ruled out Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan's resignation in the wake of allegations of his involvement in Indian Express journalist Shivani Bhatnagar's murder and described the charges as part of a "political conspiracy" against the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance government.
"Pramod Mahajan is a respected leader of the BJP and a senior minister. He will not resign. If we start responding to false and conspiratorial allegations, our democratic setup itself will collapse," party spokeman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
Senior Congress leader Priya Ranjan Das Munshi had suggested that Mahajan step down following the allegations levelled by Madhu Sharma, wife of senior IPS officer and the prime accused in the murder R K Sharma.
Naqvi said it was "unfortunate" that instead of extending cooperation in the ongoing investigations, Sharma had chosen to be on the run and seek support of the media to level "baseless" allegations.
PTI
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