Uttarakhand’s women and child-development minister, Rekha Arya, on Saturday, 17 October 2026, dismissed her husband Girdhari Lal Sahu’s corruption allegations as “100% baseless”. The Times of India reported from Dehradun, with PTI. Arya, in hospital after her health worsened, said her life was an “open book” and that she was ready for any inquiry.

On 15 October she filed a complaint at Dehradun’s Cantt police station accusing Sahu of assault, harassment, caste slurs and death threats, including under the SC/ST Act. She posted a video. Sahu answered on Friday with another video: he accused her of illegal assets worth 210 crore rupees and asked chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami for an inquiry. He produced no documents, TOI wrote.

Sahu said an audio clip Arya released was AI-generated. Arya swore by the deity Golju that the audio was genuine. He asked her to withdraw the FIR; she said that showed his intent: if she withdrew the complaint, the allegations would “vanish”.

Arya said her income-tax returns and election affidavits were public, that she had been in politics since 2003, and that any woman, minister or not, must speak if she faces domestic violence. A nine-member special team was announced for her allegations against her husband. Rediff carried the same remarks.

In his video Sahu said he had “elevated” a woman “found standing on the street”; Arya said she entered politics in 2003 with her maternal family’s support, as an independent zila panchayat member, then the assembly and the cabinet. Those are conflicting statements by the spouses.

The husband’s corruption claims and her complaint are contested statements, not court findings. This article does not treat the 210-crore figure as a proven fact.

Image: Ramchandra9, Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; archive building, not a photograph of the minister in hospital.

Sources consulted: '100% baseless, my life is an open book’: Minister Rekha Arya rejects husband’s corruption allegations — Times of India; Uttarakhand Minister Rekha Arya Refutes Husband's Rs 210 Crore Corruption Claims — Rediff.