On Saturday (April 22), the grand old party unceremoniously kicked out the Youth Congress President (Assam) Angkita Dutta for daring to file a police complaint against her alleged harasser.
Dutta had filed the complaint against Srinivas BV, President of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), and Vardhan Yadav, the Secretary in-charge of IYC, for harassing her for 6 months.
She accused Srinivas of making sexist comments, using abusive language, and resorting to mental harassment. In her complaint, Angkita Dutta narrated a recent incident in Chhatishargar, where Srinivas allegedly held her arm, pushed and pulled her, and used slang words to threaten her.
How can a sexist and chauvinistic lead @IYC torture and demean a woman every single time. What happened to @priyankagandhi ladki hoon ladk Shakti hoon https://t.co/opLpmcLLbh
— Dr Angkita Dutta (@angkitadutta) April 18, 2023
Instead of paying heed to the serious nature of the allegations, the Congress party resorted to intimidation and pressure tactics.
On Thursday (April 20), the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President Bhupen Kumar Borah issued a show-cause notice to Angkita Dutta, seeking an explanation for not taking disciplinary action against her.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has issued a showcause notice to former president of Assam Pradesh Youth Congres Dr Angkita Dutta who levelled a series of allegations against IYC President Srinivas BV accusing him of harassing and discriminating with her.
— ANI (@ANI) April 20, 2023
On Tuesday (April 18), Roopesh S Bhadauria (National Chairman of the Indian Youth Congress Legal Cell), sent a legal notice to her on behalf of Srinivas.
In the notice, it was claimed that the IYC President was a “well-known public figure”, and the allegations levelled by Dutta in tweets and other statements were “sexist, chauvinistic, false and frivolous”.
The notice also stated that the language used by the victim was “unparliamentary, undignified, defamatory and malicious”.
And on Saturday (April 22), Angkita Dutta was expelled from the primary membership of the Congress party for a period of 6 years. The reason cited for her expulsion was ‘anti-party activites’ even though all she did was file a police complaint against her alleged harasser.
Such a drastic decision by the Congress party sets a dangerous precedent, forcing victims of harassment to maintain silence in order to avoid jeopardising their political careers. It will also bolster the accused, who are holding positions of power within the grand old party.
As ironic as it might sound now, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi coined the infamous slogan ‘Ladki hoon lad sakti hoon‘ in the hopes of empowering her female voters.
“I had come up with half of the line. We wanted a slogan that would identify with women and especially young girls,” she had said.
But when a party leader raised the complaint of harassment, she was swiftly shown the door without any redressal. Such has been the tragedy that befell the fate of Angkita Dutta.
This not only trivialises complaints of harassment but discourages women from taking steps to seek legal recourse. Women empowerment, as espoused by Priyanka Gandhi, for society seems to be lacking within her party.
This is also evident from the scathing remarks of Priyanka Maurya, the former Vice-president of the Mahila Congress (UP), who dubbed the slogan of ‘Ladki hoon lad sakti hoon‘ a sham.
