The Congress Government in Punjab was also stung by the #MeToo bug. While the Opposition parties — Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) — on Wednesday demanded expulsion of the Minister accused of harassing a senior woman bureaucrat, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh clarified that the matter has been “resolved to the officers’ satisfaction”.
Capt Amarinder, who is currently on Israel visit, issued a statement saying that the matter relating to reported objectionable message of a Minister to a woman government officer had been taken very seriously and, to the best of his knowledge, resolved to the officer’s satisfaction.
“The matter was brought to my notice some weeks ago and I had asked the Minister to apologise and sort it out with the lady officer. I understand he had done so to the satisfaction of the officer, and thus, the matter was resolved,” said the Chief Minister.
Reportedly, a woman IAS officer has accused a Cabinet Minister of sending an “inappropriate text”, and has complained to her senior official in the government, and also to the Chief Minister, following which the action has been taken. The matter, it has been learnt, has also reached to the Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Though many of the Cabinet Ministers, and senior Congress leaders are said to be aware of the matter, no one is ready to talk over the same.
A senior party leader, requesting complete anonymity, however maintained that if anything of this sort has happened, a strict action should be taken against the Minister to send across a strong message to set an example.
Meanwhile the AAp and SAD have demanded expulsion of the Minister, while at the same time, lashing out at the Chief Minister and Congress national president for adopting double standards on the issue.
SAD president Sukhbir Badal has asked the Chief Minister to ‘unmask’ his Cabinet colleague who had allegedly outraged the modesty of an IAS woman officer by sending her indecent messages. He also asked why he as well as the Congress president were dragging their feet in taking action against the Minister.
“As per media reports, no action had been taken against a Cabinet Minister who had sent indecent messages to a woman IAS officer more than one and a half months back. This is despite the fact that the IAS officer had brought the matter to the notice of her superior officers and even the Chief Minister,” said Sukhbir.
Sukhbir said that the Chief Minister must immediately tell the people why he was trying to cover up this heinous act by first naming and shaming the Minister and then taking concrete action against him by sacking him from the State cabinet.
It was shocking that even Rahul Gandhi, who has been apprised about the incident, has kept silent on this issue for more than one month. “There is no way a Minister accused of such abhorrent behaviour can sit in a Cabinet where decisions regarding safety of women have to be taken. If he is not removed immediately, it will be perceived the top Congress leadership is not serious about protecting the honour of women,” he said.
Saying that the incident also exposed Congress’ double face, Sukhbir said that the Congress and Rahul Gandhi demanded MJ Akbar’s resignation from the Union Cabinet after the latter was accused of sexually harassing women journalists in his role as an Editor, but has been actively sheltering someone for similar transgressions committed by him as a cabinet minister.
He said that the woman IAS officer should be encouraged to register a formal complaint against the Minister. “This will pave way for other women who do not have access to the Chief Minister to register their protest to come forward,” he added.
AAP woman wing president Raj Lali Gill and co-president Jiwanjot Kaur also asked the Chief Minister to take immediate action against the Cabinet Minister who is continuously harassing the woman officer by sending objectionable messages on her mobile number.
Demanding to sack the Minister, AAP women leaders said that an immoral act by a Minister cannot be tolerated.
Gill blamed Capt Amarinder and AICC president Rahul Gandhi for adopting double standards on the issue of moral values. “On one hand, the Congress leaders are demanding resignation of MJ Akbar who was accused of sexual harassment by female journalists, on the other hand, the Chief Minister and AICC president are trying to save the Cabinet Minister of Punjab whose conduct amounts to sexual harassment,” she said.
Jiwanjot Kaur said that morality demanded that Cabinet Minister be sacked immediately and a special committee of senior woman officers is set up to record the statement of victim and give her justice. They said that immediate action against the Minister would have strengthened the #MeToo campaign in India.
AAP women wing leadedded that Capt Amarinder and Rahul Gandhi still have a chance to rectify their mistake and sack the Minister to set an example.