Bharatiya Janata Party IT cell chief Amit Malviya has filed a defamation suit of Rs 10 crore against a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh who accused him of sexually exploiting women, ANI reported.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the parent organisation of the BJP.

Malviya’s counsel sent a legal notice to the man, Santanu Sinha, on Saturday, saying: “The nature of allegations are extremely offensive in as much as, they falsely allege sexual misconduct purportedly committed by my client. The same is fatally injurious to the dignity and reputation of my client who, by virtue of his professional profile, is a public figure.”

The notice asked Sinha to take down the social media post in which he had made the allegations on Thursday.

The allegations were raised by Congress leader Supriya Shrinate at a press conference on Monday.

“An RSS member Santanu Sinha, related to BJP leader Rahul Sinha, has said that the BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya indulged in nefarious activities,” Shrinate said. “He indulged in the sexual exploitation of women. Not just in 5-star hotels but in BJP offices in West Bengal.”

“The reality is less than 24 hours after PM Modi was sworn in, serious charges of sexual exploitation have been levelled against a very prominent office bearer of the BJP, the head of its IT cell,” Shrinate added, calling for the BJP to immediately remove Malviya from his post.

Shrinate said that Malviya’s position in the party was an extremely influential one and that there could be no independent inquiry into the allegations without his removal.