Nirbhaya Trust Gen Secy accuses Cong of ignoring calls to not give tickets to accused of crimes against women

Having been denied a Congress ticket for the Bihar Assembly polls, Sarvesh Tiwari, the general secretary of the Nirbhaya Jyoti Trust, has accused the party of ignoring calls to not give tickets to those accused of crimes against women.

Having been denied a Congress ticket for the Bihar Assembly polls, Sarvesh Tiwari, the general secretary of the Nirbhaya Jyoti Trust, has accused the party of ignoring calls to not give tickets to those accused of crimes against women. In a letter to Sonia Gandhi, Tiwari alleged that at a time when the entire nation has been shocked due to the alleged gangrape and death of a Dalit woman in Hathras, the Congress has given a ticket to Brajesh Pandey who was accused of rape. Pandey has been named as the Congress candidate from Govindganj, from where Tiwari was also seeking a ticket. Responding to the allegations, Pandey rejected the charge and alleged that Tiwari was making the accusations as he was sour over being denied a ticket. Pandey said the police had filed a closure report in the case Tewari was referring to and his name was not even mentioned in the FIR. Pandey said he was falsely accused in the case. BJP national general secretary C T Ravi attacked the Congress over the ticket given to Pandey, alleging that Brajesh was charged with raping a minor Dalit girl. He also accused the Congress party of being against Dalits. In the letter to the Congress chief, Tiwari said, "The choice of candidates has left much to be desired and there are apparent gross irregularities," he claimed. The leadership chose to "ignore" the voices from within, including of Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev, that the party should not give tickets to persons facing charges of crimes against women, alleged Tiwari, who was himself seeking a ticket from Govindganj. In December 2012, the Nirbhaya Jyoti Trust was formed by the family of a woman who was brutally gang-raped and murdered in Delhi. The trust assists women who have experienced violence to find shelter and legal assistance. The Congress on Thursday released its second list of 49 candidates for the Bihar Assembly elections, fielding Shatrughan Sinha's son Luv Sinha from Bankipur and Sharad Yadav's daughter Subhashini Yadav from Bihariganj seats. The Congress had released its first list of 21 candidates for the Bihar polls starting October 28. The party is contesting a total of 70 seats as part of the 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar, with the RJD leading the coalition.