Now Reading: Congress puts Bimol Akoijam on Manipur poll panels amid harassment case
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Congress puts Bimol Akoijam on Manipur poll panels amid harassment case
The Story in Brief
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: 6 sources, 4 government-critical, 2 neutral
Sources (6): indiatoday.in (government critical), timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report), theprint.in (neutral report), indiatodayne.in (government critical), aninews.in (government critical), deccanherald.com (government critical)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 6 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
