No complaint received against Punjab minister over text to woman official: Congress
CHANDGARH:The Punjab Congress said Friday it has not received any complaint against the member of the Amarinder Singh Cabinet who allegedly sent an "inappropriate text" to a woman government official, amid growing demands for the sacking of the minister.
"No complaint has been received by the party (against the minister)," said Asha Kumari, in charge of party affairs in Punjab, on the sidelines of a Congress protest outside the CBI office here.
Kumari said the Punjab chief minister has already expressed his view on the matter. However, she added, "sending a message does not become a case of MeToo. Sexual harassment is different from messaging," she said.
Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party have been demanding that the minister, who is believed to have sent at least one text to the official, be sacked.
In a recent statement, Amarinder Singh said when the matter reached him, he made the minister apologise to the woman official and "had resolved it to the officer's satisfaction."
SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal had said it is shocking that Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who has reportedly been apprised of the complaint, is silent on the matter.
"Rahul Gandhi should explain whether he is complicit in this cover-up exercise by the Punjab chief minister? There is no way a minister accused of such abhorrent behaviour can sit in the Cabinet, where decisions regarding safety of women have to be taken," Badal had said in a statement here.
"If he (minister) is not removed immediately, it will be perceived as the Congress leadership's lack of seriousness about protecting the honour of women," he had said.