Indian junior FM faces sexual assault allegations

India's junior external affairs minister M.J. Akbar, who was a journalist before taking up his current assignment on Sunday said that the allegations of sexual assault leveled against him by women journalists were "false, wild and baseless."

He also announced of taking a legal action against the women journalists. As many as 14 women journalists have so far accused him of sexually assaulting or exploiting them while he was a journalist. The allegations date back at least two decades.

The minister had returned on Sunday morning after a weeklong official tour overseas, including to Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.

"The allegations of misconduct made against me are false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice. I could not reply earlier as I was on an official tour abroad," he said in a statement issued to the media.

He also raised a question mark over the timing of the allegations, even as they came just before elections in five states, which are slated to take place over the next two months.

"Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? These false, baseless and wild allegations have caused irreparable damage to my reputation and goodwill," he said in his statement.

"I will be taking appropriate legal action," he added.