Official steps down over alleged misconduct

NEW DELHI - M.J. Akbar, India's junior external affairs minister, resigned on Wednesday amid accusations by 20 women of sexual harassment during his previous career as one of the country's most prominent news editors, becoming the most powerful man to fall in India's burgeoning #MeToo movement.

Akbar said in a statement that he would "challenge false accusations" in a personal capacity, referring to a criminal case he filed on Monday against the first woman to accuse him.

Akbar, 67, first served as a lawmaker for India's then-ruling India National Congress party in 1989-91. He then edited The Telegraph, The Asian Age and other newspapers and wrote several books of nonfiction, becoming one of the most influential people in the Indian news media.