'Was asked to keep mum': Radhika Khera on alleged harassment by Congress leader

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Radhika Khera, who quit the Congress on Sunday, has alleged that despite repeated alerts to the party high command regarding disrespect at Chhattisgarh unit, no one helped her. Khera, who had vowed to expose the "male chauvinistic mentality" within the party, alleged that she had informed Sachin Pilot, Jairam Ramesh, Bhupesh Baghel and Pawan Khera, among other senior Congress leaders, about disrespectful behaviour by Chhattisgarh unit's communication wing chairperson Sushil Anand Shukla.

She also took a swipe at Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, saying she has been seeking their time for three years but "none of them met me". "I was always sent from one office to the other."

Mocking the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Khera said that Rahul Gandhi didn't meet anyone during the rally and would only "wave at people for 5 minutes and went back to his trailer".

"His Nyay Yatra was for namesake, I think he just wants to become a travel vlogger, and he was doing travel vlogging there...I tried to meet her (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) but she does not meet anyone. She says 'Ladki hoon lad sakti Hoon' (I am a woman, I can fight), but 'Ladki ho toh pitogi' (If you're a woman, you'll get beaten up), is the slogan of Congress," she told news agency ANI.

Speaking to India Today TV, Radhika Khera alleged that irrespective of which Congress leader she talked to, each one of them asked her to keep quiet and scolded her in return, for not coordinating with the party. Mentioning former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Khera alleged that after learning about disrespect and verbal abuse by Sushil Anand, the former had asked her to "leave Chhattisgarh".

In May, a video had gone viral of Khera - visibly upset - expressing grievances about disrespect towards her. She can be heard making allegations against an unnamed individual, stating that nobody in the party is respected, especially female politicians.

On Monday, she shared details of April 30 wherein Khera alleged Sushil Anand along with a few others verbally abused her in "words I never thought existed". The men allegedly locked her in a room for a minute with a few keeping guard lest she run away.

"The latch of the room was locked for a minute during the ordeal, and two people kept guard. I somehow managed to open the door and ran from there," Radhika Khera told India Today TV.

She alleged that following the incident, she informed Baghel, Khera and Pilot, among others, but no one helped her.

Radhika Khera alleged she didn't understand at the time that the only reason no Congress leader came forward to help her was because she had visited Ram Temple in Ayodhya and attended the consecration ceremony on January 22.

The former Congress leader, who broke down in tears while talking to India Today TV, alleged that ever since her visit to Ayodhya, the grand old party had been insulting her. She said she was barred from debates and asked not to speak due to her "pro-Hindu beliefs"

"I couldn't understand the conspiracy against me at the time," Radhika Khera said.

She alleged that Congress began to constantly insult her soon after she began her duties for the Lok Sabha elections for Chhattisgarh Congress. "I understood then that it was all part of a conspiracy against me and my character."

Khera further alleged that when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered its Chhattisgarh leg, Sushil Anand repeatedly offered her alcohol.

"I was constantly asked the type of alcohol I prefer and that it would be delivered to my room. He (Anand) along with 5-6 Congress workers had also knocked on my room in an inebriated state," Khera told India Today TV.

Slamming her former party, she alleged that it was only later that she realised no help was extended to her because her ideologies were not in sync with the "anti-Hindu" and "anti-Ram" thoughts of Congress.

In her resignation letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Radhika Khera said she faced criticism from within the party because she could not stop herself from visiting the Ram Temple, and getting a glimpse of Ram Lalla idol.

"I have given more than 22 years of my life to this party and worked with full honesty from NSUI to the Congress's media department. Despite that, I had to face such intense opposition because I am supporting Ram in Ayodhya," she wrote.

Radhika Khera is among a string of Congress leaders, who have recently quit the grand old party, amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Published On:

May 6, 2024