Reacting to allegations of harassment by Assam Youth Congress president Angkita Dutta against the youth outfit’s national chief Srinivas BV, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said he is hopeful that the top leadership of the grand old party shall protect the dignity of an Assamese woman.

Dutta alleged she was facing harassment for the last six months at the hands of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) President, who “discriminated against her based on gender.”

“The complaint by Assamese women is within the internal matter of the party. She has complained to Rahul Gandhi and not me, so if I act they will question why I am concerned about Congress internal matters. I want to make two things very clear that unless she complains to us on the matter, we will not enter into. I believe that Congress’s top leadership shall protect the dignity of an Assamese woman. When it comes to me, I will look into it,” Sarma said.

Dutta on Tuesday alleged she felt mentally harassed on several occasion at the hands of the IYC President.

“Srinivas BV has discrimination in his attitude towards women. Over the few months, I have felt that he has mentally harassed me a lot of times. He has completely destroyed Assam Youth Congress. In an event during ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, Srinivas came to me and asked me in his Kannada accent if I have liquor, I was completely offended by it. I informed IYC leadership regarding the incident, I even informed senior Congress leadership too. They told me to be patient,” she said.

“How can a sexist and chauvinistic lead IYC torture and demean a woman every single time. What happened to Priyanka Gandhi‘s “Ladki hoon lad Shakti hoon (I am a woman, I can Fight)?” she asked.

Legal notice issued against Dutta
Meanwhile, Srinivas BV issued a legal notice to Dutta for defaming him in “preparation for leaving the Congress and joining the BJP to ensure the closure of cases against her”.

The legal notice, issued by IYC legal cell head Roopesh S Bhadauria claimed that the allegations were“politically motivated and totally false”.

Responding to the allegations levelled against him, the Youth Congress chief on Tuesday said those indulging in peddling false content will be held accountable for their acts.

“Whoever is found indulged in propagating/peddling false and defamatory content will be held liable under the relevant laws and will be held accountable for their acts,” he said in a tweet.

“Sorry for not being able to answer BJP and their sponsored stooges earlier because of the marathon election campaign in Karnataka, where BJP is all set to lose badly. No diversion can save the BJP in the state of Karnataka,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bhadauria alleged that Dutta’s name has come up in the Sarada chit fund scam and in ED/PMLA cases and that the Assam Youth Congress president is in constant touch with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. She was creating an atmosphere to leave the Congress and join BJP to have closure of these cases.

Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Debabrata Saikia said that Dutta must adhere to the party’s discipline.