Amid intense calls for the sacking of MJ Akbar, Union minister Ramdas Athawale said on Sunday that the Minister of State for External Affairs should resign if the allegations levelled against him were found to be true.

Addressing a press conference in Pune, Athawale, the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, also said that the #MeToo movement should not be used to level baseless allegations

“If a person is accused of something it must be investigated. Many people have been found guilty in the #MeToo movement. But I think proper enquiry should be done. However, there can also be an attempt to defame politicians as well as actors,” Athawale was quoted as saying by ANI.

On being asked about a number of these allegations coming to light several years after the alleged incidents, Athawale said evidence would come up even now if investigations were conducted properly.

The Republican Party of India (A) leader said not all allegations under the #MeToo movement were of a very serious nature but they mostly concerned cases of inappropriate touch and misbehaviour.

“However, all allegations need to be investigated,” he said.

Athawale said the Union government had appointed a committee comprising retired judges to probe the cases.

Akbar, a journalist-turned-politician, has been accused of sexual harassment during his years as a journalist by multiple women in the last few days.

The MoS, who returned from an official tour of Nigeria on Sunday, issued a statement rejecting the allegations as “false and fabricated”. He said that he will take legal action against his accusers and claimed that the allegations were part of a political “agenda”.

“Accusation without evidence has become a viral fever among some sections. Whatever be the case, now that I have returned, my lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action,” he said in a statement.

Read More: MJ Akbar to take legal action against accusers, questions timing of #MeToo movement

“Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? You be the judge. These false, baseless and wild allegations have caused irreparable damage to my reputation and goodwill,” Akbar added.

Slamming Akbar’s statement, Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Swati Maliwal questioned the PM’s silence and called the MeS a “moron” for giving a political colour to the accusations.

“All 9 women are making false allegations? They are after your seat in Parliament? What a moron MJ Akbar is! If anyone is impacting BJP adversely today, it is MJ Akbar for his notoriety and lecherous behaviour and PM Modi for his unbelievable silence and inaction in the matter,” she wrote on Twitter.

All 9 women are making false allegations? They are after your seat in Parliament? What a moron MJ Akbar is! If anyone is impacting BJP adversely today, it is MJ Akbar for his notoriety and lecherous behaviour and PM Modi for his unbelievable silence and inaction in the matter. https://t.co/VONew0sTwy

— Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) October 14, 2018