Guwahati: The Assam Congress staged a fiery protest on Wednesday, burning an effigy of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his controversial comments about women’s recruitment during the previous Congress regime.
The party also wrote to the National Commission for Women (NCW), demanding action and a CBI investigation.
The controversy erupted following Sarma’s remarks at a recent panchayat election rally, where he referred to a witness statement in the report of the Justice (Retd) B.K. Sharma Commission.
The report investigated alleged irregularities in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) examinations during 2013 and 2014, a period when Congress was in power.
According to Sarma, a witness had claimed that women “had to adopt a wrong path” to secure government jobs under the Congress administration.
Terming the comment “an insult to all women of the state,” Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress president Mira Borthakur Goswami led a protest outside the Congress headquarters in Guwahati.
Party workers raised slogans and set fire to an effigy of the chief minister, demanding an apology.
“This is a direct attack on the dignity of working women across Assam. Such statements are unacceptable from someone in public office,” said Goswami.
In a letter addressed to NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma, she alleged that the chief minister had made “a dangerous revelation” and urged the women’s commission to recommend a CBI probe.
Goswami also questioned Sarma’s silence during his own tenure in the Congress, saying, “He was part of that very government for 15 years. Why didn’t he speak up then?”
State Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah called for intensified action, instructing all district units to lodge police complaints against the chief minister by Thursday if he fails to issue an apology.
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Borah had earlier stated on X that Sarma’s remarks “cast aspersions” on lakhs of women government employees.
In response to the backlash, Sarma defended his comments, clarifying that he was merely quoting from the commission’s report.
“I have not made any personal accusation. I only referred to a documented statement. If Bhupen Borah has objections, he should take it up with Justice B.K. Sharma,” the chief minister said.
