The Opposition Congress in Assam on Tuesday demanded a public apology from chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma within 24 hours for alleging that women had to compromise their chastity to secure government jobs during the previous Congress regime. Failing to do so, the party warned, would lead to legal action.

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Kumar Borah condemned Sarma's remarks, made during campaigning for the ongoing panchayat polls in Darrang on Monday, calling them defamatory to women across the state.

In a post on X, Borah wrote: “He (Sarma) said that during the 15-year-long Congress rule in Assam (2001–2015), women had to get jobs by offering their virginity. I can bet that in Indian politics — and maybe even world politics—nobody would have uttered such a vile statement.”

Borah questioned Sarma’s moral accountability during his time in the Congress. “Is Mr. Sarma saying that there was a systemic program of rape carried out by those in power? If yes, why did he, as a responsible minister in the then Congress government, keep quiet all these years? If not, how dare he cast aspersions on lakhs of female government servants?”

Tagging the President, Prime Minister, vice-president, and the National Commission for Women, Borah said: “These women are daughters, mothers, sisters of some family. By implying that their daughters, mothers, sisters are open to offering their virginity for whatever gains, is a most condemnable and punishable statement.”

He further warned, “If Mr. Sarma does not seek pardon from Assam’s women within 24 hours, I shall ask our Mahila Congress to approach the Gauhati High Court.”

Assam Pradesh Kisan Congress chairman Hari Prasad Saikia also slammed Sarma’s “shameful remarks” that women in Assam “secured government jobs by compromising their chastity” under the Congress. He said the comments demean the “spirit of hard work, perseverance, and merit through which countless women have earned their rightful place in public service.”

Saikia reminded that Sarma had held key portfolios like health and education during the Congress regime. “If such serious misconduct had occurred, was it not his moral and constitutional duty to act and speak out at that time? His silence then and accusations now expose the depth of his political opportunism and moral bankruptcy.”

Sarma’s response

Chief minister Sarma responded by claiming that his remarks were based on the findings of the Justice (Retd.) Biplab Kumar Sharma Commission report, and not his own assertions. He said Congress should take the matter up with the commission if they found the content objectionable.

Sarma said he had cited a witness’ statement in the report, which claimed that women job aspirants were forced to “lose their chastity” to secure government jobs during the Congress tenure.

He made the remark while campaigning for the panchayat elections scheduled for May 2 and 7.

Sarma has repeatedly criticised the Congress for alleged corruption and misgovernance, while highlighting the state’s development under the BJP-led government.

The Sharma Commission was formed in 2019 to investigate irregularities in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) exams during the Congress rule. The results in question pertained to 2013 and 2014, declared in 2015 when Tarun Gogoi was chief minister.

The commission submitted two reports — in 2022 and 2023 — which were tabled in the Assam Assembly in February this year. It concluded that jobs were distributed “in lieu of money and other extraneous considerations.”

The BJP has since used the report to target the Congress over the APSC scam, which came to light in 2016, the year the BJP assumed power in Assam.