The BJP on Monday cited the sexual abuse cases lodged in Kerala against former chief minister Oommen Chandy and Lok Sabha member K.C. Venugopal to hit back at the Congress, which had targeted the government over the #MeToo campaign against M.J. Akbar.
Without mentioning Akbar, who resigned recently as junior foreign minister after several former journalistic colleagues accused him of sexual harassment, the BJP attacked the Congress for mocking the Narendra Modi government’s signature girl-child scheme.
“Kerala police have named former chief minister Oommen Chandy and K.C. Venugopal for sexually abusing a lady,” BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said.
“The nation wants to know, will Congress president Rahul Gandhi take action against these leaders or not?”
Lekhi accused Rahul of keeping mum over sexual abuse of women by Congress politicians while mocking the government’s Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (save and educate the daughter) campaign.
The Congress had gone full throttle on the social media urging people to save their girl child from the BJP after the charges against Akbar.
Lekhi said the list of Congress politicians facing sexual abuse charges was long, and added that even Rahul had faced such charges.
In August 2012, the Supreme Court had dismissed a case against Rahul, whom a former Samajwadi Party MLA had accused of kidnapping a woman in Uttar Pradesh and gang-raping her with his friends in 2006.
The court said the allegation was “without substance and without an iota of evidence” and fined the complainant, Kishore Samrite, Rs 5 lakh.
Hailing the Beti Bachao campaign, Lekhi claimed it had led to a fall in female foeticide in vulnerable states and helped sensitise people about the rights of the girl child.
“Instead of accusing BJP leaders, Rahul Gandhi should take note of what his party leaders are doing and take action against them,” she said.
Lekhi claimed the Modi government had done a lot for women’s uplift while the Congress had done nothing.
The Kerala police have registered cases against Chandy and Venugopal on complaints of sexual exploitation and rape lodged by “solar scam” accused Saritha S. Nair.
