Panaji, Oct 20 (IANS): The Congress on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Goa Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar over the ongoing porn Whatsapp message controversy, even as the ruling BJP defended him, saying that the party respects women and that efforts were on to defame Kavlekar.

On Monday, Kavlekar had filed a criminal complaint with the Cyber Cell of the Goa Police, saying unknown persons hacked his smartphone late on Sunday night and sent a porn message to a Whatsapp group. The porn content laden Whatsapp message, purportedly sent from Kavlekar's phone, has stirred a controversy in Goa with the Opposition parties demanding the Deputy Chief Minister's resignation.

"If the BJP believes in the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' principle, then Chief Minister Pramod Sawant should sack Kavlekar immediately and an impartial police probe should be initiated," head of the party's Goa social media cell Pratibha Borkar demanded on Tuesday.

Borkar has also filed a complaint with the Goa Police seeking a probe into the message. The complaint alleges that the message was sent by Kavlekar on a Whatsapp group 'Villages of Goa'.

The BJP has however defended Kavlekar, who joined the saffron party from the Congress in July last year.

"The Minister has sent me a copy of his complaint. His criminal complaint says that his mobile phone has been hacked. He has filed a complaint with the Crime Branch. The truth will come out after the police investigation," Goa Bharatiya Janata Party president Sadanand Shet Tanavade told reporters on Tuesday.

"There is new evolving technology, with which anyone can do anything by hacking mobiles. BJP has always respected women. Our organisation has 33 per cent reservation for women," Tanavade said.