BJP plays up women's protests: Sandeshkhali unrest against TMC puts 'peace over dole'
Telegraph | 11 February 2024
The Bengal unit of the BJP is trying its best to use the Sandeshkhali incident to castle the Mamata Banerjee government ahead of forthcoming general elections by highlighting the "ongoing law-and-order crisis" in the area which has witnessed an uprising of women against some ruling party leaders in the last couple of days.
The women accused the local Trinamul leaders of unleashing a reign of terror in the region.
State BJP chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said that the last few days' developments in this part of North 24-Parganas have given the state's main Opposition party plenty of reasons to build a movement against the Trinamul regime.
"The Trinamul government always talks about its achievements in empowering women.... Now, see what's happening in Sandeshkhali, where scores of women are coming out spontaneously and protesting against local Trinamul leaders. These women do not want doles in the name of Lakshmir Bhandar, they want peace and justice," Bhattacharya said.
He added that his party would strive to expose that the claim of women empowerment in Trinamul-led Bengal was a "big hoax".
Throughout her four-decades-long political career, Mamata Banerjee has always enjoyed overwhelming support from women, a major reason behind her party's stellar show in the 2021 Assembly polls in which it bagged 213 seats.
The fact that the Trinamul establishment is planning to woo women before the Lok Sabha polls became clear when state finance minister (independent charge) Chandrima Bhattacharya, during her budget speech on February 8, said that the state government spent around 44 per cent of the development budget on empowering women.
The BJP's plan to counter this narrative was apparent on Friday when party MLA from Siliguri Shankar Ghosh pitted the hike in the Lakshmir Bhandar dole for women against visuals from Sandeshkhali with women carrying sticks and brooms in protest of "atrocities by local Trinamul leaders".
BJP leaders tried to take their protest to Sandeshkhali, but a party delegation led by women's wing leader Archana Majumdar was stopped by the police, citing Section 144 of the CrPc.
BJP Namdigram MLA and the leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday staged a walkout from the Assembly as the party's demand for talks on Sandeshkhali and a statement from the chief minister were not met.
The BJP MLAs marched up to Raj Bhavan demanding intervention from governor C.V. Ananda Bose to bring normality to Sandeshkhali.
Adhikari gave governor Bose 24 hours to restore peace in Sandeshkhali and threatened to launch a sit-in-demonstration in Raj Bhavan otherwise. He added the BJP MLAs would go to Sandeshkhali on Monday and meet the women there, even if they had to violate Section 144.
A BJP MLA said that the party was "not happy with Raj Bhavan" as it appeared Bose "often is seen siding with the government".
The BJP's social media cell on Saturday claimed the Mamata Banerjee government put the honour of women at risk.
"The Sandeshkhali issue is politically significant to corner Trinamul ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Protests of women, accusing Mamata Banrjee's police of inaction, prove they are unsafe in Bengal," said a BJP leader.
The National Commission for Scheduled Caste sought a detailed report on Sandeshkhali from the chief secretary and home secretary within three days.