‘Gentleman would be better positioned to speak’: Smriti Irani on harassment charges against MJ Akbar

Union minister Smriti Irani lent her support to the women who have come out to speak of harassment as part of the #MeToo movement in India. She, however, declined to speak on charges against junior foreign minister MJ Akbar.

Union minister Smriti Irani on Thursday lent her support to the women who have come out to speak of harassment as part of the #MeToo movement in India. She declined to speak on charges against junior foreign minister MJ Akbar and stressed that it was for him “to issue a statement” on the allegations.

Union minister Smriti Irani speaks to journalists on Thursday. (ANI/Twitter)

“The gentleman concerned would be better positioned to speak on this issue. I appreciate that the media is accosting his female colleagues but I think it is for the gentleman concerned to issue a statement because I was personally not present there,” Smriti Irani, the first union minister to speak on sexual harassment allegations against MJ Akbar, said.