Assam Pradesh Youth Congress president Angkita Dutta, who has accused Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Srinivas B V of “sexism” and “harassment”, filed a police complaint against him on Thursday. The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee slapped a show cause notice on her later the same day. Dutta’s complaint at the Dispur police station accused Srinivas of being “sexist, chauvinistic and outraging a woman’s modesty”. On the show cause notice, Debadrata Saikia, the Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly, said: “The Pradesh Congress Committee has asked Angkita Dutta to explain her conduct… She has stated that the incidents began six months back. Unfortunately, she had not informed the PCC chief till two days back. Also, she has said that the matter was raised before the party high command. I doubt if she has raised the issue with national president Mallikarjun Kharjeji or our general secretary in-charge Jitendra Singhji. Jitendra Singhji came to Assam in the last three to four months many times and he never mentioned this.” He added, “At this moment, while Karnataka elections are going on, the allegations regarding Srinivas, who belongs to Karnataka and is now campaigning there, seems to be at the behest of the ruling party in Assam and the national ruling party to sabotage the campaign process of the Congress.” Dutta told The Indian Express that her “grievances began when IYC Secretary Vardhan Yadav was appointed as Assam in-charge”. “When he (Yadav) assumed this position, he started misbehaving with me and would address me as ‘ae ladki (you, girl)’. I went and complained to the all-India leadership about this and said I did not have a place in decision making. They began incorporating my ideas and ways of working for a few months. But, one day, he arrived in Assam without informing me.” “I questioned his arrival in one of our groups. It happened without any discussion with me. I asked if it is because I am a woman. Since nothing was done about it, I started reaching out to the All India Congress Committee (AICC),” she said. Dutta claims that she approached Srinivas during the Congress’s plenary session in Raipur earlier this year. “He pulled me aside and asked me why I was putting up these messages on the groups. ‘Kya daaru peeta hai, vodka peeta hai, ya tequila peeta hai (Do you drink alcohol, vodka, tequila?),’ are the words he said to me. I walked away and reported it to the IYC and AICC leadership,” she said. I had a lot of faith in @RahulGandhi and went to Jammu during @bharatjodo to appraise him of @srinivasiyc harassment and demeaning use of language towards me. It’s April now and still no equity against him. — Dr Angkita Dutta (@angkitadutta) April 18, 2023 Dutta, who was nominated as President of the Assam Pradesh Youth Congress in November 2021, has had a long association with the Congress. Her father Anjan Dutta was a three-time party MLA, a state minister, and was the Assam Congress president at the time of his death in 2016. Dutta contested the 2016 and 2021 Assam Assembly elections from the Amguri constituency on Congress ticket and lost twice. A state Congress leader said, “She is around 35, but she has been given tickets for state Assembly elections twice already at such a young age. She was lifted, patronised and promoted by the party,” the leader said. Dutta called the allegations of her collusion with the BJP “disappointing”. 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 — Dr Angkita Dutta (@angkitadutta) April 18, 2023 “I am a fourth generation Congressperson. I have CBI and ED cases against me, defamation cases from the BJP. I have not said a word against the party, just against this individual [Srinivas]. I have been speaking against this within the party, what have they been doing about that?” she said. However, party leaders point to some instances to underline her “friendly relationship with the BJP leadership”. They spoke of an incident in 2020, when Assam junior health minister Pijush Hazarika visited Dutta while she was in quarantine during the Covid-19 pandemic, after which she praised the government’s management of the pandemic. A photo of her with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has also drawn much attention. Dutta has said the picture was taken at a social work event. Despite my complaints, no enquiry committee has been initiated against @srinivasiyc Is this the safe space @RahulGandhi talks about women @priyankagandhi — Dr Angkita Dutta (@angkitadutta) April 18, 2023 The matter blew up when on Tuesday, Dutta released a series of posts on Twitter to allege that Srinivas had been “continually” harassing and discriminating against her on the basis of gender for the last six months. She claimed that she spoke to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi about her concerns during the Jammu leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in January, adding that no enquiry was initiated despite that. Srinivas issued a legal notice to her late Tuesday evening and demanded an apology. He alleged that Dutta’s name had come up in the Sharda Chit Fund Scam and other ED and Prohibition of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases. He claimed that Dutta was "constantly in touch with" CM Sarma and was looking for a way out "to have these cases closed". Srinivas also called Dutta’s allegations against Yadav “baseless”.
