Cops Will Step In If...: Assam CM Tells Congress As BJP Backs Expelled Youth Wing Chief Angkita

The BJP has come out in support of former Assam youth wing Congress chief Angkita Dutta who was expelled from the party for alleged anti-party activities.

Guwahati: After the expulsion of Assam Pradesh Youth Congress (APYC) President Angkita Dutta from the primary membership of the party for six years, support poured in from a few Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members, including state Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Sarma slammed the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) for poor handling of the issues raised by Angkita Dutta. Himanta Sarma, a long-time cabinet colleague of Angkita Dutta’s father Anjan Dutta during the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government in Assam said, “I have been repeatedly saying that Angkita Dutta is Assam’s daughter. The way the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee has tackled the entire issue is very unfortunate. The Congress party has assumed that whatever Angkita Dutta said is wrong and the National Youth Congress President is on the right path.”

“I would have been pleased if the Assam Congress had supported Angkita and raised their voice for her. But we have seen a totally different picture. I still believe that it is an internal matter of the Congress and if they resolve it within the party, neither Criminal Investigation Department (CID) nor the police would need to step in. But if the matter is not resolved soon, then the police will have to take up the matter for investigation either today or tomorrow," the Chief Minister said.

“Moreover, a First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged and the National Commission for Women (NCW) too has written a letter to the Assam Director General of Police (DGP) in this regard. Though I am a member of the BJP, I will still advise the Congress to keep the police away from this as we would not like Assam’s daughter to go to court. I feel that the Congress should solve the matter mutually but if it remains unsolved then the law will have to take its course of action," he said.   

On the other hand, former Congress Minister Ajanta Neog, who switched to the BJP in December 2020, and currently is the state’s Finance Minister in the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Assam government, too expressed her displeasure over the decision taken by the Congress on Angkita Dutta.

She said, “The allegation that the Congress has brought against Angkita Dutta is quite unfortunate and I think there should be an inquiry into it. If she does not get justice then women will not come forward to join politics. If a woman is not safe in her own party then it is really very unfortunate."

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Saturday expelled APYC President Angkita Dutta from the primary membership of the party for six years for her 'anti-party activities' with immediate effect.

“Hon’ble Congress President has expelled Dr Angkita Dutta, President Congress Assam Pradesh Youth Congress, from the primary membership of the party, for six years, for her anti-party activities, with immediate effect,” read a statement released by the AICC on Saturday.

Earlier, the APYC President had accused Srinivas BV, the National President of the Youth Congress, of harassment.

On Thursday, Dutta had also filed a police complaint against the National Youth Congress leader Srinivas BV at the Dispur Police Station in Assam’s Guwahati, for allegedly harassing her over her gender for almost six months.

In her written complaint lodged before the police, Dutta accused Srinivas of persistently harassing her for the past six months, not just by making sexist comments, but using slang words and also threatening her of dire consequences if she kept complaining against him before the high office bearers of the Congress Party about his ill-treatment, misbehavior.

Dutta also requested the Assam Police to take immediate action against Srinivas. Angkita, in a series of tweets, referred to Srinivas as “sexist” and “chauvinistic. “I am a woman leader. If I undergo such harassment, how I am supposed to encourage other women to join," she tweeted. Angkita had also accused senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of not initiating action against Srinivas despite being apprised of the matter several months ago. The Congress however dismissed the charges saying they were politically motivated.

Angkita is the daughter of the then-influential Assam minister Anjan Dutta during the Tarun Gogoi-led Assam government. He was also the President of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC). She had unsuccessfully contested the Assam Assembly elections on a Congress ticket from the Amguri constituency.