Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Monday (September 2) trained guns at Congress over its expulsion of woman leader in Kerala who alleged that women leaders in the party needed 'sponsorship' of male leaders to rise in ranks. Poonawalla has raised question whether Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would support Simi Rosebell John, the ex-Congress leader who was expelled following her allegations.
From his official handle on social media platform X, Poonawalla posted a video raising these allegations.
"The Hema Committee report in Kerala has revealed many secrets. Left MLA Mukesh has also been seriously accused of sexual abuse and rape. The Communist Party of Kerala does not do anything about this but the Congress has shown its anti-women face. Party's senior leader Simi Rosebell John only said that casting couch like thing happens in Kerala Congress too where women are exploited. So the Congress fired her instead of getting it investigated," said Poonawalla.
The Congress expelled Simi Rosebell John on Sunday following her remark that 'women leaders [in Congress party] need sponsorship from party leaders to rise in the ranks'.
The remarks were made during interview with a TV channel.
The expulsion
The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) announced Simi's expulsion in a press release. KPCC general secretary M Liju said in the release that Simi, who is a former All India Congress Committee (AICC) member, had been removed even from the primary membership of the party.
The release said that Simi Rosebell John's words amounted to defamation of lakhs of women leaders and workers in the Congress movement and that she was doing so in collusion with political adversaries.
However, Kerala Congress chief K Sudhakaran later said that there will be an investigation.
"Mahila Congress has filed a complaint against Simi Rose Bell John's allegations. Simi made bad remarks against the leaders. Her allegations are baseless. KPCC will investigate the complaint filed by Mahila Congress," Sudhakaran said as quoted by ANI.
