BJP leader removed from party post over sexual harassment allegations

DEHRADUN: Days after a woman functionary accused Uttarakhand BJP’s general secretary Sanjay Kumar of sexual harassment, state BJP president Ajay Bhatt on Thursday announced that Kumar had been relieved from his post with immediate effect.
The woman functionary had filed a sexual harassment complaint with the police last Friday which had sent the saffron party in a tizzy.
Kumar had been holding the post of general secretary in the party for more than six years. His name cropping up in a sexual harassment charge — one of the first such allegations levelled against a politician in the state after the #MeToo movement picked pace in India — threatened to create a dent in the BJP’s image ahead of the crucial civic polls. The party’s problems were accentuated when Kumar’s phone conversation with the woman went viral in social media. His removal was seen as a damage-control exercise. State president Ajay Bhatt while speaking about Kumar’s exit said that “we haven’t yet decided on his replacement.”
On being asked if Kumar’s removal will affect the BJP’s prospects in the upcoming civic polls, Bhatt said, “The decision would only boost our party’s image.”
“There are so many Congress leaders who have serious allegations against them, but they continue to hold senior positions in the party. However, we have voluntarily taken the decision (to remove Kumar) even though there is no FIR or forensic report to back the allegations,” he said.