Give satisfactory explanation or quit: Cong to Akbar on #MeToo charges

The Congress on Wednesday said Union Minister M J Akbar must either offer a satisfactory explanation on the allegations of sexual harassment against him or resign immediately, even as it demanded an inquiry into his conduct.

The opposition party also hit out at External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for not responding to a question on action against her junior minister after allegations were levelled against him, terming it "extremely unfortunate".

As the #MeToo campaign gathered momentum in India, some women journalists have come out and accused Akbar, a former editor and now the minister of state for external affairs, of sexually harassing them during his stint as a journalist. Akbar was an editor of many publications before he took to politics.

Congress spokesperson S Jaipal Reddy said in a press conference that, "I think Mr M J Akbar must either offer a satisfactory explanation or must resign forthwith. How can he be in the Ministry with this serious allegation being levelled against him by a responsible journalist who worked with him?"
Asked about BJP MP Udit Raj's remarks that there were cases where women took money to level charges, she said, "It is a shameless comment coming from an elected representative of the Bharatiya Janata Party and considering that Bharatiya Janata Party has not taken cognizance of what he has spoken, we believe they endorse this anti-women mindset of Udit Raj."