Effigy burned in protest; Mahila Congress urges NCW to seek CBI probe
GUWAHATI, April 30: With just two days left before the first phase of Assam’s Panchayat elections, the state Congress has launched a statewide protest against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s controversial remarks about women allegedly being exploited for government jobs during the Congress regime.
Addressing a rally in Borsola, Sonitpur on April 28, Sarma claimed that during Congress’s 2001–2016 tenure, “young girls had to lose their sanctity” to secure jobs, referencing a witness statement from the Justice (Retd.) Biplab Sarma Commission’s report on the APSC cash-for-jobs scam. His comment has ignited political outrage and demands for accountability.
On Wednesday, the Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress, led by president Mira Borthakur Goswami, staged a protest outside Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati, burning the CM’s effigy. Borthakur later wrote to the National Commission for Women (NCW), accusing Sarma of making false and defamatory remarks that demean the dignity of countless women government employees. She demanded an immediate CBI investigation, asserting that Assam Police cannot conduct an impartial probe.
“In 2013, Om Prakash Chautala was jailed for a cash-for-jobs scam,” Borthakur wrote. “Now we’re hearing something far more serious—virginity-for-jobs—alleged by none other than a sitting Chief Minister.”
She questioned why Sarma, a former Congress minister for 15 years, had remained silent if he knew of such crimes during his own party’s tenure. “If the CM is lying, he should resign. If he’s telling the truth, he should be punished for covering up a heinous crime for so long,” she stated.
Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah called the remark “one of the most offensive statements in Indian politics” and set a 24-hour deadline for the CM to issue a public apology. With that deadline now passed, Borah directed all District Congress Committees (DCCs) to file FIRs at Sadar police stations across Assam on Thursday, demanding Sarma’s arrest.
Borah reiterated that legal action would follow if the Chief Minister refused to retract his words, accusing him of weaponizing a sensitive issue for political gain.
In his defence, CM Sarma insisted he was merely quoting a witness statement from the Commission’s report, not making a personal claim. He said, “If Congress has objections, they should take it up with the commission, not me.”
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