The BJP on Sunday questioned Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s silence over the dismissal of Congress MP Bimol Akoijam from JNU in connection with alleged sexual harassment of 11 students. Addressing a press conference, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj accused Gandhi and the Congress’s top leadership of double standards on the issue of respect for women, and demanded Akoijam’s suspension from the party.

Charges of double standards

Swaraj said the allegations against the MP surfaced in May, yet Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi had not said anything on the matter. She asked why the Congress had not initiated any inquiry or issued a show-cause notice to the MP, and whether its talk of smashing the patriarchy was merely political rhetoric. The New Delhi MP said the party appeared to be shielding its MP and asked whether the concerns of the 11 female students had reached Gandhi at all.

Clash over Tamil language and NEET

The BJP also attacked Akoijam over his claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched a full-scale attack on Tamil language and culture. Rajya Sabha MP and BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi rejected the charge, saying Tamil had been accorded immense respect during Modi’s tenure, with efforts made to elevate it nationally and internationally.

Trivedi said projects worth 13,000 crore rupees had been undertaken in Chennai, including 4,900 crore for the Chennai Metro, 3,700 crore for national highways and 7,750 crore for the Karaikal-Peralam rail line, along with upgrades to cargo and cruise facilities at three ports. He also accused Gandhi of trying to create a divide between the North and South on the lines of language.

The Congress had not issued an official response to the BJP’s attack at the time of reporting. The row added to a tense week of political exchanges, with the Opposition accusing the Centre of misusing institutions while the BJP charged the Congress with shielding its own leaders from accountability.