In a major embarassment to the ruling coalition partner - the BJP- in Bihar, its senior MLA Raj Kishore Kesri has been slapped with a rape charge by a woman teacher, a senior police official said today.

The 35-year old teacher of a private school has alleged in the FIR lodged at Khazanchihat police station in Purnia district three days ago, that she was raped by the MLA and his cohorts for more than three years, Purnia Division's Deputy Inspector General of Police Amit Kumar told PTI on phone.

The rape charge against Kesri was being investigated by the Khazanchihat police station in-charge Arvind Kumar, while the area Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) S S Thakur has been made the supervising officer in the high profile case, he said.

While the complainant was unavailable for her comments, Kesri, the sitting MLA from Purnia assembly constituency, rubbished the rape charges filed against him saying he was implicated in a 'false' and 'baseless' case smacking of a 'political conspiracy' to malign him.

"The rape charge appears to be a handiwork of my adversaries to mar my prospect in the forthcoming assembly polls," he said adding that he was optimistic of getting justice.

This is the second time in the past three years that the BJP MLA's reputation has come under a cloud after he was implicated in a similar charges by another woman but was later given a clean chit by the investigation.

The BJP state leadership has, however, rallied behind the embattled legislator with the Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi defending him in public at a function during Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's 'Vishwas Yatra' in Purnia last week.

"The MLA's character and conduct have been impeccable during his entire political career,' Modi had said.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister had quitely distanced himself from Kesri during his Purnia visit and refused to share the dias with him at the public meeting held in Purnia, JD(U) sources said.

The BJP MLA, who was seated on the dias, was quitely asked by the senior officials accompanying Kumar, to vacate the platform from where the latter was to address a public meeting in Purnia last week, the sources said.