Congress names Bimol Akoijam to Manipur poll panels amid sexual harassment claims

Detailed summary

The BJP accused the Congress of being “anti-women” after it named Inner Manipur MP Bimol Akoijam, who faces sexual harassment allegations from 11 JNU students, to three Assembly poll committees. The Congress has yet to respond.

The Congress has named Inner Manipur MP Bimol Akoijam, who faces sexual harassment allegations from 11 Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students, to three committees for the Manipur Assembly elections. The appointments drew criticism from the BJP, which accused the Congress of being “anti-women”.

Akoijam, a JNU professor, has been named to the Pradesh Election Committee and the Campaign Committee and appointed co-chairman of the Manifesto Committee.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the appointments exposed what he called the Congress’s “anti-women” approach. Referring to Bhai Dooj, he accused the party of handing key election responsibilities to an MP facing sexual harassment allegations. He also criticised Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi over the decision.

Kapoor said Akoijam had received some relief from the court and maintained that the police case linked to the students’ allegations was still pending.

BJP leader Pradeep Bhandari also criticised the appointments in a post on X, accusing Rahul Gandhi of promoting people facing allegations of crimes against women. He dismissed the Congress’s “Smash the Patriarchy” slogan as posturing.

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