New Delhi: The Congress Saturday expelled its former Youth Congress chief in Assam, Angkita Dutta, for alleged anti-party activities after she accused national Youth Congress chief Srinivas B.V. of “mental harassment” and “discrimination” on the basis of gender.
Srinivas, president of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) since 2020, had thereafter sent a defamation notice to Dutta after which the Assam Congress had also issued a show cause notice to her. Dutta, too, has filed a complaint at the Dispur Police Station against Srinivas and recorded her statement before a Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court Friday.
In response to Dutta’s allegations, a press release by the IYC in Delhi claimed that she was embroiled in the Saradha Chit fund scam and had close ties with Assam’s BJP Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. They further alleged that she was on her way to the BJP.
Speaking to the media Saturday, Himanta Biswa Sarma said: “When this issue came before us, we told Congress that it is their internal matter and they should resolve it. When it is the question of a daughter’s honour, taking action is the right thing to do, whoever they may be. But I came to know that Congress has expelled her. They didn’t resolve the issue. If the party doesn’t do it, the law will have to resolve it.”
Sarma had Friday night broken his long silence on the controversy since it came to the fore Monday.
Speaking to the media last night, he had called Angkita “the daughter of Assam” and added that the “way the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee has tackled this matter (was) sad”.
“They (Assam Congress) are thinking that she has given a wrong statement and the IYC President is right. I would have been happy if the Assam Congress talks in favour of her. But what we see is completely opposite,” he said.
In its notification expelling Dutta, the Congress’ Disciplinary Action Committee said that she would remain expelled for six years for her “anti-party” activities.
BJP leader and in-charge of its IT cell, Amit Malviya, used the issue to hit out at the Congress, mocking the ‘Ladki Hoon, Ladd Sakti Hoon’ (I’m a girl, I can fight) slogan coined by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
“This is Congress’s model of women empowerment! Sack the woman who alleged harassment instead of providing a platform to hear her grievances. The manner in which Angkita Dutta has been removed from the Congress is uninspiring for women”, said Malviya in a tweet.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray)
Also Read: Sonia wanted Himanta to become Assam CM after 2014 rebellion, but Rahul said ‘let him go’: Azad