New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) The BJP on Friday said Rahul Gandhi’s “deafening silence” following the sacking of his party MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam from JNU over a sexual harassment charge has exposed the “hollowness” of his “smash the patriarchy” slogan.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, party national general secretary Smriti Irani said Gandhi’s silence on the issue also serves as nothing less than a confirmation of the fact that it is the legal framework, not the Gandhi family, that upholds the safety and rights of Indian women.
She also slammed Gandhi after the Congress leader exchanged posts with Elon Musk amid a controversy over Starlink satellite internet services in India.
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Friday dismissed Akoijam from service with immediate effect after an inquiry into the sexual harassment allegations against him found the MP-cum-professor guilty. He was a professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems under JNU’s School of Social Sciences.
According to reports, at least 11 female students filed sexual harassment complaints against the professor in May this year.
The complaints alleged that Akoijam invited students to his campus residence under the pretext of meetings or gatherings and attempted to sexually harass them. Some students had also alleged that he used to make obscene and inappropriate remarks in class.
“Recently, the former Congress president spoke about ‘smashing the patriarchy’. However, the hollowness of this rhetoric became evident through the actions of the Congress MP who was employed at a university in the national capital,” she said.
“What is deafening is the silence of the former Congress national president,” the former Union minister said, questioning why Gandhi did not take any action against Akoijam after the students accused him of sexual harassment.
“I find the answer to this question in the video evidence of his own recent physical altercation with a female police officer in Delhi. So, for someone who himself engages in such misconduct with a female police officer, can any woman in this country expect him to take action against a Congress MP for sexual harassment?” She said
Irani said it is easy for them (Congress) to “coin slogans”, but how difficult it is to put them into practice in real life, “today, the people of the country are witnessing proof of this as well.”
Calling out Gandhi for his alleged support to Elon Musk, Irani said this is not the first time that a Congress leader has sought help from international forces to intervene in the Indian democratic process.
“On January 15, 2025, the former national president of the Congress stated that his fight is not against the BJP but against the Indian state. Never before in our country’s political history has a political leader declared war on the Indian state, and by extension, launched an attack on the Indian voter,” Irani said at the presser. PTI PK KSH PK AMJ
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