New Delhi, October 9: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Udit Raj on Tuesday made a controversial statement on the ongoing '#MeToo' campaign, while supporting actor Nana Patekar who has been accused of sexual misconduct by Tanushree Dutta. Udit Raj said women are habitual of making allegations of sexual assault against men for money.

"Habitually women take 2-4 lakhs, level allegations on men and then pick another man. I accept it is in man’s nature. But are women perfect? Can it not be misused? A man’s life gets destroyed because of this," the BJP MP told news agency ANI while reacting to the #MeToo movement in India. He described the campaign as the beginning of a 'wrong practice'. #MeToo Movement Grips Indian Politics; Female Journalist Accuses Union Minister MJ Akbar Of Making Sexual Advances.

Reacting to allegations against actor Nana Patekar, Udit Raj questioned the victim for speaking up after a decade. "The #MeToo campaign is necessary but what is the meaning of accusing someone of sexual harassment after 10 years? After years how can it be possible to verify the facts of the events?" the BJP MP from northwest Delhi tweeted in Hindi.

His remarks came after Tanushree Dutta, in an interview in September, in the context of the #MeToo movement and sexual harassment of women in Bollywood, spoke out of her personal experience at the hands of Nana Patekar on the set of "Horn 'OK' Pleassss" in 2008. Last week, she also filed a written complaint on the same at the Oshiwara police station.

"Nana Patekar's behaviour was inappropriate towards me, he was on the set despite (the fact) his work in the song was over. He grabbed me by the arm and pushed me towards him around on the pretext of teaching me how to dance," read one part of the complaint. On his part, Nana has consistently denied the accusation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 09, 2018 01:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).