Congress spokesperson quits citing misbehaviour of male members

Priyanka Chaturvedi joins Shiv Sena

MUMBAI: A spokesperson for India's main opposition Congress party quit on Friday and joined a group allied with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party, complaining that misbehaviour towards her by male Congress members was ignored.

The resignation of Priyanka Chaturvedi, a regular on prime-time TV debates, is an embarrassing setback for Congress in the middle of a general election, and again raises the contentious issue of the treatment of women in India.

"A serious incident and misbehaviour against me by certain party members while I was on official duty for the party has been ignored under the guise of all hands needed for elections," Chaturvedi wrote in the letter to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, and posted on Twitter.

I am absolutely overwhelmed and grateful with the love and support I have got across board from the nation in the past 3 days.
I consider myself blessed with this immense outpouring of support. Thank you to all who have been a part of this journey. pic.twitter.com/WhUYYlwHLj

— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) April 19, 2019

She told a news conference she had joined Shiv Sena, a Hindu nationalist group allied with Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP).

Her resignation is another problem for the former ruling Congress party, which is facing a confident BJP, despite concerns about farm incomes and a lack of jobs.

India's staggered general election began on April 11 and will end on May 19. Votes will be counted on May 23. Chaturvedi said in her resignation letter her services were "not valued" in the party and she had "reached the end of the road".

She said the male party members she accused of misbehaviour were reinstated this week after being suspended.

A a senior Congress source, who declined to be identified,
defended the party's decision to lift the members' suspension
after "due procedure".

"She is free to take her own decision," the source said. A #MeToo movement in India gathered momentum last year with
numerous complaints of sexual harassment and other sexual
misconduct levelled against prominent journalists, actors, movie
directors, comedians and others.