Ex-Congress leader claims she was locked in, offered alcohol during Rahul Gandhi's Yatra

Chhattisgarh Congress leader Radhika Khera resigned from the party on Sunday after alleging "disrespect" from the state unit.

Former Chhattisgarh Congress leader Radhika Khera, who resigned from the party on Sunday after alleging "disrespect" from the state unit, on Monday levelled a slew of allegations against the party.

Chhattisgarh Congress leader Radhika Khera, who resigned from the party on Sunday.(ANI)

Khera claimed that the Congress began to "hate her" after she visited the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. She also accused the media chairperson of the Chhattisgarh Congress of offering her alcohol during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yata, led by Rahul Gandhi. Follow full coverage of the Lok Sabha elections here.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Khera claimed that the Congress had instructed her not to visit the temple during the election period.

“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 this reality when I went to the 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, the Congress party started hating me,” Khera said, according to ANI.

She added: "Whenever I posted photos or videos, I was scolded and asked why did I visit Ayodhya when elections were underway."

‘Was offered alcohol’

During Monday's press conference, Khera alleged that during Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the media chairman of Chhattisgarh Congress Sushil Anand Shukha offered her alcohol.

“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 on the door of my room in an inebriated condition,” she alleged.

Khera also claimed that Shukha misbehaved and abused her.

"On April 30, when I went to talk to the media chairman of Chhattisgarh Congress, Sushil Anand Shukha, he started misbehaving with me and abusing me. I screamed a lot. I also shouted and told people to go down and call the General Secretary but no one moved. Then, when I took out my phone and said that I was recording you, Sushil Anand Shukla made a gesture and two more people in that room closed the door from inside. The room remained locked for about a minute and I was abused. Mujhe gandi gandi gaaliya di gayi…” she added.

Khera said she informed senior Congress leaders Sachin Pilot and Jairam Ramesh about the incident, but none of them responded.

"Later, Bhupesh Baghel called me back and I told him that I wanted to leave politics but he asked me to leave Chhattisgarh and then I understood how all of this was just a conspiracy," she added, according to ANI.

Radhika Khera's resignation

Congress leader Radhika Khera on Sunday resigned from the party days after a video in which she alleged insult by the party leadership to women went viral.

In her resignation letter addressed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the Chhattisgarh Congress leader mentioned the party's stand on Ram Mandir.

"For every Hindu, Lord Ram holds a special place but some people oppose to it...In the party to which I gave more than 22 years of my life, I faced similar resistance as I could not stop myself from getting a darshan of Lord Ram," Radhika Khera wrote.