Entire Congress anti-women: BJP

The BJP, which was stung by the #MeToo campaign taking toll of Union Minister M J Akbar from the Union Council of Ministers, on Monday dusted up sexual harassment charges against Congress leaders.

BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi accused Congress president Rahul Gandhi of silence on allegations of rape and sexual harassment against its senior leaders to buttress the point that there is a “huge gap in the words and deeds of Rahul Gandhi”.

The Kerala police have registered rape cases against former chief minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy and Congress MP KC Venugopal.

Latching on to sexual harassment allegations against Akbar, the Congress president had raised questions on the commitment of the Modi government towards women empowerment and ridiculed the government’s ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ pitch.

In election rallies in poll-bound states this month, he had asked people to save daughters from BJP leaders.

Taking strong objection to Rahul’s remarks, Lekhi said before ridiculing a sensitive campaign like that, the Congress president should have a look at the “dark deeds” of its own leaders.

Lekhi sought to explain at length various welfare measures for women taken by the Modi government like “Mission Indradhanush, Soubhagya Yojana”, amendments in Maternity Act, doing away with triple talaq and contrasted with controversial comments on women made by some Congress leaders in the past. “Entire Congress including Rahul Gandhi is anti-women,” she said.

The Congress had repeatedly tried to paint the Modi government as anti-women after the allegations against Akbar, who had to resign as the BJP felt it was losing out in perception battle on women issue due to his continuance in the office.