# Congress puts Bimol Akoijam on Manipur poll panels amid harassment case 2026-11-11T22:56:10+00:00 | Politics | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 6 independent outlets The Congress on Wednesday, 11 November, named Inner Manipur MP A Bimol Akoijam, dismissed by JNU on 9 October after 11 students alleged sexual harassment, as co-chairperson of the manifesto committee and a member of the campaign and state election committees for the upcoming Manipur assembly elections. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge approved the panels, with former chief minister Ibobi Singh heading the Pradesh Election Committee. The BJP attacked the appointments as ‘anti-women’. National general secretary Smriti Irani said the move exposed the gap between the Congress's slogans and its actions. Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta demanded an explanation from Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. Akoijam has called his dismissal a ‘witch-hunt’. A Delhi court on 5 November directed police to give seven days' notice before any coercive action. The Delhi High Court has stayed the dismissal and listed his plea for January. Elections are expected early 2027. The Congress has not yet responded. Update, 12 November 2026: Smriti Irani and Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta have joined the BJP's attack on the Congress over the appointments, with Irani accusing the party of treating women's dignity as an election slogan and Gupta demanding an explanation from Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. The ANI and Deccan Herald reports add these calls to the earlier BJP criticism. The Congress has still not responded. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The BJP's campaign-frame, led by Smriti Irani, Pradeep Bhandari and Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, uses Akoijam's appointment to attack the Congress's ‘Smash the Patriarchy’ slogan as posturing, while the Congress itself has not responded. The TIMES OF INDIA and ThePrint carry the procedural details (dismissal, court stay, anticipatory bail conditions) without editorialising, India Today NE, ANI and Deccan Herald lead with the BJP's political attack. All sources agree on the objective fact of the appointment and the pending allegations, the difference is whether the story is framed as a political controversy (the BJP's argument) or as an organisational update (the PTI-style wire copy). The uniform coverage of the court status, dismissal stayed, police to give seven days' notice before arrest, gives the only concrete check on the sequence. No source reports a Congress rebuttal. ## Coverage Coverage: 6 sources, 4 government-critical, 2 neutral - indiatoday.in (government critical) Leads with BJP criticism after factual appointment details - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Wire-service style: facts in neutral order, no political framing - theprint.in (neutral report) PTI copy: focuses on committee composition and legal status - indiatodayne.in (government critical) Leads with Smriti Irani's attack, quotes BJP extensively - aninews.in (government critical) Leads with Delhi CM Gupta's remarks, BJP-dominated sourcing - deccanherald.com (government critical) Leads with BJP 'anti-women' charge, quotes Irani and Bhandari This brief was synthesised by AI from the 6 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, Bharatiya Janata Party, Indian National Congress, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Manipur Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/congress-puts-akoijam-in-manipur-poll-panels-bjp-cries-anti-women/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/congress-puts-akoijam-in-manipur-poll-panels-bjp-cries-anti-women/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/