'Locked in room, offered alcohol during Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra ...': Radhika Khera's startling charges after quitting Congress

‘Locked in room, offered alcohol during Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra …’: Radhika Khera’s startling charges after quitting Congress

Chhattisgarh Congress leader Radhika Khera, who resigned from the party on Sunday after alleging disrespect from the state unit, claimed on Monday that she was snubbed by the leadership because she didn’t follow the “anti-Hindu ideology of the party”.

Speaking to media, Khera also made startling allegations about how she was offered alcohol during the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

“During Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the media chairman of Chhattisgarh Congress – Sushil Anand Shukha offered me alcohol and he along with 5-6 party workers used to knock the door of my room in inebriated condition. I informed Sachin Pilot, and Jairam Ramesh but nothing happened,” she said.

She claimed that she was ignored for not following the alleged anti-Hindu ideology of the party.

“On 30th evening when I went to talk Sushil Anand Shukla at state congress office, he abused me and shouted on me. They locked me inside, he with other two state spokesperson abused me. I screamed but no one opened the door. I was manhandled. I also complained to congress Maha mantri but no one pay heed to my complaints,” she added.

Khera added that she never used to believe the anti-Hindu charges levelled by rivals on Congress but got “exposed to the reality” after she attended the Pran Prathistha ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22.

“I always heard that Congress is anti-Ram, anti-Sanatan and anti-Hindu but I never believed it. Mahatma Gandhi used to start every meeting with ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’. I got exposed to the reality when I went to Ram temple with my grandmother and after returning from there, I put a ‘Jai Shri Ram’ flag on the door of my house and after that Congress party started hating me. Whenever I posted photos or videos, I was scolded and asked why did I visit Ayodhya when elections were under process,” she said.

On Sunday, in her resignation letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Khera had vowed to expose people suffering from a “male chauvinistic mentality” within the party.

She said that she faced criticism from within the party because she could not stop herself from visiting the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and getting a glimpse of Ram Lalla idol.

“Shri Ayodhya Dham, the birthplace of Ram Lalla, is a very sacred place for all of us and I could not stop myself from going there. But I had never thought in my life that I would have to face so much opposition for visiting there.”

“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 said.

Earlier this week, a video went viral in which AICC spokesperson Radhika Khera purportedly said she was resigning due to “insult”. Some party leaders said the outburst was the fallout of an argument between her and a senior office-bearer.