Days after harassment complaint against BV Srinivas, Assam Youth Congress chief Angkita Dutta expelled from party

Assam Youth Congress chief Angkita Dutta was expelled on Saturday as per a statement from the party. The move came just days after she accused party president Srinivas BV of harassment earlier this week.

Dutta had accused the organization’s national president, Srinivas BV, of sexual harassment and filed a police complaint against him. Dutta alleged that Srinivas BV mentally harassed her for six months, making sexist comments and threatening her if she complained to higher-ups in the party. She also accused him of physically harassing her and using abusive language during the Congress’ plenary session in Chhattisgarh in March.

Repeated complaints ignored

Despite repeated complaints, the Congress party took no action against Srinivas BV, according to Dutta’s complaint. She had asked the police to register a case, and they are currently looking into the allegations. The Congress’ Assam unit then issued a show cause notice to Dutta, asking her to explain her conduct despite assurances from party leadership that her grievances would be addressed.

Angkita Dutta submitted her reply to the show-cause notice for going public with allegations of harassment and gender discrimination against the Indian Youth Congress president without first informing the party leadership.

The reply forwarded to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) for necessary action, he said on Friday.

Criticism on Congress' move

BJP's national IT wing chief Amit Malviya launched a scathing attack at the Congress party in his latest tweet on his Twitter handle. He accused the party of hampering the idea of women empowerment. He also stated that dismissal of Angkita from Congress is uninspiring for women.

Posting an image of the Congress party's order against Angkita Dutta, Malviya said, "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. लड़की हूँ, लड़ सकती हूँ is a hollow slogan."

About Dutta's allegations

Dutta, in a series of Tweets on Tuesday, had alleged that IYC president Srinivas B V was a "sexist and chauvinistic" person, who has been harassing her and discriminating based on gender.

Dutta had also claimed that she had informed the matter to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, but no enquiry was ordered.

She filed a complaint at the Dispur police station here on Wednesday, alleging Srinivas was "harassing and torturing her for the last six months by making sexist comments, using slang words and also threatening her with dire consequences if she keeps complaining against him to the senior party office bearers".

She also alleged that during the party's plenary session at Raipur in February, the accused had heckled her and threatened to ruin her political career.