From Power To Shame : The Manohar Dhakad MMS Story

By Arpit Verma

In May 2025, a local BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, Manohar Lal Dhakad, got caught in a major controversy after a video went viral on social media. The video showed him in a private and inappropriate situation with a woman near a car on the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway. It was recorded by a CCTV camera on the highway. The car in the video was reportedly registered in Dhakad’s name. Soon after, the police filed a case against him for public indecency and putting others at risk on the road.

Dhakad claimed that he was being blackmailed. He said some workers from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) threatened to release the video unless he gave them ₹1 lakh. He said he paid ₹25,000 but refused to pay more, and that’s when the video was made public. After these claims, three NHAI employees were fired for their role in the matter.

For a few days after the video came out, Dhakad could not be found. His phone was off and he didn’t speak to anyone. Eventually, he surrendered to the police on May 25 and was later released on bail. The scandal affected not just him but also his family, as his wife Sohan Bai is an elected member of the district council. Dhakad also lost his post in the Dhakad Mahasabha Youth Association, and BJP leaders said he was not officially part of the party.

Dhakad continues to say that the video is fake and that he no longer owned the car shown in the video. He plans to take legal action against those who shared it. This incident has raised serious questions about how highway cameras are used, the privacy of people, and how public figures should behave. It remains a big topic of discussion in politics and among the public.