NEW DELHI — The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday launched a blistering offensive against the Congress party over its decision to appoint Manipur Lok Sabha MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam to key state election panels, pointing directly to unresolved sexual harassment allegations against him.
Congress leadership cleared the appointments ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections, drafting the parliamentarian into both its Manipur State Election Campaign Committee and the Manifesto Committee. The blowback was immediate. Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor accused the Congress of parading an "anti-women" agenda by elevating an academic facing accusations from 11 female students at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
The timing deepened the political feud.
"By including Jawaharlal Nehru University Professor Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, who is accused of sexually harassing 11 female students, in both the Manipur State Election Campaign Committee and Manifesto Committee on a sacred occasion like Bhai Dooj, the Sonia-Rahul-led Congress has demonstrated that it is an anti-women party," Kapoor said in an official statement.
He stressed that while the courts had granted interim relief against institutional disciplinary action, Akoijam had not secured an acquittal and the allegations remain active before judicial scrutiny.
Akoijam served as a professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems within JNU's School of Social Sciences. Following an internal inquiry into the sexual harassment complaints lodged against him, the university administration dismissed him from service on October 9.
Yet the legal contest shifted rapidly.
Earlier this month, the Delhi High Court intervened, staying JNU’s order of termination while it evaluates his formal writ petition challenging the dismissal. That interim freeze halts the administrative removal, but the court has ordered university authorities to file a formal response before the matter returns for its next hearing in January.
| Legal and Institutional Parameters | Official Case Status |
|---|---|
| Accused Lawmaker | Angomcha Bimol Akoijam (Manipur MP) |
| Institutional Post | Professor, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, JNU |
| Administrative Action | Terminated by JNU on October 9 following harassment inquiry |
| Judicial Status | Termination stayed by Delhi High Court; matters sub judice |
| Next Hearing Date | University reply mandated before January proceedings |
Tens of thousands of voters in Manipur are tracking the political mobilization as Congress formalizes both its Pradesh Election Committee and Campaign Committee for the state. But the appointments opened a wide tactical flank for rival leaders in New Delhi.
BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari mounted a broad attack on the Congress top brass, writing that Rahul Gandhi routinely shields and promotes leaders who face grave accusations of crimes against women. Bhandari argued that the move exposed the hollow rhetoric behind the party's "Smash The Patriarchy" slogans.
Bimol Akoijam, who is accused of sexually harassing 11 students at JNU, has been made part of the Manipur Election Committee of the Congress Party! ‘Smash The Patriarchy’ is a hollow slogan for Congress. The Congress student wing was involved in an 'escort service racket', while the party gave a ticket to a man who took out a rally in support of the Kathua rape accused. The POLICY AND DNA of Congress are ANTI
WOMEN!" — Pradeep Bhandari, BJP Spokesperson
Jawaharlal Nehru University authorities must place their formal counter-affidavit on record before the Delhi High Court resumes proceedings in January.