Assam Congress Angkita Dutta Leader Alleges "Gender, Caste-Based Harassment" From Youth Wing Chief Srinivas BV

Guwahati, April 18 (IANS) Youth Congress` Assam President Angkita Dutta has labelled serious allegations against the youth outfit`s national chief Srinivas B.V., accusing him of harassing her a number of times. She also claimed that during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, she apprised senior leader Rahul Gandhi about the harassment she faced from Srinivas but no action was taken against him. "Srinivas BV has continually harassed me and discriminated on the basis of my gender. My values and education don`t allow me anymore. The leadership has played deaf ears despite being in front of them many times. "BV Srinivas thinks he is so powerful and has the blessing of big leaders that he can harass and demean a woman in the organisation," Dutta said in a series of tweets.

Tagging Rahul Gandhi in her posts, she wrote: "I had a lot of faith in Rahul Gandhi and went to Jammu during Bharat Jodo to apprise him of Srinivas` harassment and demeaning use of language towards me. It`s April now and still no inquiry against him". Dutta claimed that she kept quiet for months waiting for the party top brass to take action against Srinivas, however, no inquiry committee was set up despite her complaints. In her tweets, the Assam Congress leader asked Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi: "I am a woman leader. If I undergo such harassment, how am I supposed to encourage other women to join the Congress party?"

According to Dutta, Congress now does not have safe space for women because of people like Srinivas. Speaking to IANS, Dutta said: "I am the only woman Youth Congress President in the entire country and my family has been in Congress for the last four generations. Still, I have faced so much harassment." Her father, the late Anjan Dutta was a minister in Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government in Assam.