Assam CM says women 'compromised' for jobs during Cong rule

Assam Mahila Congress on Wednesday staged a protest in Guwahati against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his alleged remarks that women had to compromise their chastity to secure government jobs during the previous Congress regime.The protest, held at Rajiv Bhawan, saw Congress women leaders burning an effigy of the Chief Minister and demanding an apology for what they termed as derogatory comments. The state Mahila Congress President Mira Borthakur Goswami said, "It is a direct insult to all women of the state. Such a statement is not acceptable." Goswami said that Sarma was part of the Congress government for 15 years and maintained he should be asked why he had "kept quiet while being a part of the previous government".
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Kumar Borah had earlier condemned Sarma's statement, which was made during a campaign for the ongoing panchayat elections.Borah demanded a public apology from the Chief Minister, warning that legal action would follow if he failed to do so. He further questioned Sarma's moral accountability during his time as a Congress minister. "Is Himanta Biswa Sarma suggesting that a systemic program of exploitation was in place? If yes, why did he remain silent as a responsible minister in that government? If not, how dare he cast aspersions on lakhs of female government servants?" , Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi also criticised Chief Minister Sarma, accusing him of politicising the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam and "indulging in petty politics."
Sarma, during a panchayat election rally recently, had mentioned a witness statement from the report of the Justice (retd) BK Sharma Commission on irregularities in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) examinations for 2013 and 2014, when Congress was in power.He had said the witness' statement maintained that women "had to adopt a wrong path" to get jobs during the Congress regime.