Assam Youth Congress Chief Files Complaint Against IYC Head Over 'Harassment'

Angkita Dutta alleged that national head BV Srinivas "discriminated against me on the basis of my gender."

Srinivas BV and Angkita Dutta.

(Photo: The Quint)

Assam Youth Congress chief Angkita Dutta has filed a police complaint against Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV, shortly after taking to Twitter on Tuesday, 18 April, to accuse him of "harassment."

In the complaint filed at Assam's Dispur police station on Wednesday, 19 April, Angkita accused Srinivas of being "sexist, chauvinistic, and outraging a woman's modesty," according to Hindustan Times.

Angkita also alleged that Srinivas physically harassed her and used abusive words during the Congress's plenary session in Chhattisgarh on 25 March.

"He heckled me holding my arm, pushing and pulling and threatening me using slang words, saying he will ruin my career in the Congress if I complained against him to the high office bearers of the party."

Angkita's complaint, according to HT

The Assam Police reportedly told her that they were looking into the allegations.

Complaints on Twitter

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Angkita alleged that Srinivas has been discriminating against her "on the basis of gender" for the last six months, and that multiple complaints to the leadership fell on "deaf ears."

"I am a woman leader. If I undergo such harassment, how am I supposed to encourage women to join... @srinivasiyc thinks he is so powerful and has the blessing of big leaders that he can harass and demean a women in the organisation."

Angkita Dutta, in a tweet

She also accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of failing to take any action despite her apprising him of the situation. "Is this the safe space Rahul Gandhi talks about?" she asked.

"Despite my complaints, no inquiry has been initiated against Srinivas… I have kept quiet for months waiting for them to take action against him yet no one seems interested. Srinivas in the guise of his PR is getting away with all kinds of wrongdoings," she said in a tweet.

Shortly after her accusations, the IYC's legal team issued a notice to her on behalf of Srinivas, demanding a public apology and threatening legal action if one was not provided.

The notice states that Angkita has "resorted to using utterly unparliamentary, undignified, defamatory, malicious words" against Srinivas, and has levelled "false and frivolous allegations."

'Allegations Are Politically Motivated'

Speaking to The Quint, Srinivas said that the allegations against him are "completely false" and "politically motivated."

A close aide of Srinivas further alleged to The Quint that Angkita has been in constant touch with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. He also shared a purported photo of Ankita meeting Sarma.

The legal notice issued by Srinivas also states that her "name has come up in the Sharda Chit Fund Scam" and that she has been meeting the Assam CM, insinuating that she was making the allegations against the IYC chief before joining the BJP.

"In April 2022, the CBI had sent a notice to Angkita [in the Sharda scam]. After this, in November 2022, the ED had called her for questioning. Sarma's name was also there in the case, but now his name has been removed from ED's list. He has got a clean chit now, because he joined BJP and became the Chief Minister."

A close aide of BV Srinivas

"The ED has also confiscated some properties of Angkita. So, she is also trying to get her name removed by joining hands with the BJP, like Sarma," the aide added.

Daughter of Anjan Dutta, a former minister in Assam who also served as the president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, Angkita had run for the Amguri constituency in the Assembly elections under the banner of the Congress party.

Responding to Srinivas' allegations that she had links with the BJP, Angkita took to Twitter to say:

"...they want to throw me out of the party. Please note @RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi. I am a four generation Congress and CBI, ED hasn't been able to scare me till now."

The Quint has reached out to Angkita Dutta for comment. This story will be updated as and when we receive it.

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women has taken suo motu cognisance of Angkita's tweets alleging harassment, stating that it is "appalled and disappointed."

"Chairperson Ms Rekha Sharma has written to the Director General of Police, Assam to personally look into it and conduct an inquiry on the allegations leveled by Dr Angkita Dutta in a fair and time bound manner," the NCW statement added.