A week after BJP’s general secretary, in Uttarakhand, Sanjay Kumar was removed from his post following allegations of sexual harassment, the complainant has shared details about the leader’s misconduct.
Speaking to the Indian Express, the complainant has said that at least on two occasions, Kumar tried to kiss her forcefully.
“He would regularly send me vulgar photographs downloaded from the Internet. He also sent me photographs of his private parts on WhatsApp but would delete them within seconds of sending them to me,” she has alleged.
According to the victim, several complaints which were conveyed verbally to fellow BJP workers and leaders went unacknowledged.
“Eventually, I stopped going to the party office in March. Everyone I approached asked me for proof against him (Kumar), which I didn’t have. I was even told by a BJP leader in Dehradun that I was making a big deal of the experience, and that being sexually involved with male politicians was common for women entering politics,” she told the Indian Express.
She further said that on Kumar’s directions, party workers had snatched her phone after she had recorded her conversations with the BJP leader.
The BJP, on Thursday, 8 November, said that Kumar was removed from the position of the state party general secretary (organisation).
"Kumar had written to the party's central leadership, seeking to be removed from the post and his request has been accepted," state BJP President Ajay Bhatt told reporters.
Kumar had been enjoying the post of BJP Uttarakhand general secretary (organisation) for the past seven years.
Hindi daily Amar Ujala had published a report claiming that Kumar had been sexually harassing the woman for about five years and several complaints to various party leaders had gone unacknowledged.
Reports about the senior leader's removal had been doing the rounds since 3 November, but party leaders were tight-lipped about the matter.
On Thursday, Bhatt was quoted as saying by The Indian Express, “A newspaper report had published a story where a female BJP worker had raised allegations of sexual harassment against him (Kumar), but the concerned woman has not come forward with any written complaint. The party has no proof of any sexual harassment allegations against Kumar.”
(With inputs from PTI and The Indian Express)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)