New Delhi: Signalling its continued support for its MP from Inner Manipur, Professor Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, the Congress appointed him to three committees for the upcoming Manipur Assembly elections, despite his dismissal from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) following sexual harassment allegations by 11 female students.
Akoijam has been appointed co-chairperson of the party’s Manifesto Committee. He has also been included in the Pradesh Election Committee and the Campaign Committee.
Akoijam, who taught at JNU’s School of Social Sciences, was dismissed by the university on 9 October following an inquiry into the allegations. Eleven female students filed complaints against him in May.
However, he rejected the charges describing his expulsion as a political witch-hunt. In an interview with ThePrint on 10 October, Akoijam alleged that the BJP had fabricated the charges and that his North-Eastern identity had made him a target.
“I am not playing the race card but it is racist. Where you think people are inferior, you treat them differently,” he told ThePrint.
Later, Akoijam challenged his dismissal in the Delhi High Court. On 2 November, the court stayed the termination order on procedural grounds.
BJP leader and Former Union Minister, Smriti Irani criticised the appointments, accusing the Congress of hypocrisy.
“The Congress party that chants ‘I’m a girl, I can fight…’ and ‘Smash the Patriarchy’ has once again revealed its true approach, character and face when it comes to respecting women,” she wrote on X.
“Eleven female students at JNU made serious sexual harassment allegations against Congress MP Bimol Akoijam, yet Congress has entrusted him with an important responsibility on the Manipur Pradesh Election Committee,” she added.
“The huge gap between what Congress says about respecting women and what it does stems from the fact that, for the party, women’s dignity is nothing more than an election slogan,” she said on X.
(Edited by Anupama Yadav)
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