Sandeshkhali sting: TMC gets a stick to beat BJP with
Times of India | 5 May 2024
Kolkata: “Never in my life have I seen such political depravity in which women’s honour was for sale,” Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said on Saturday referring to the Sandeshkhali sting video, as he accused BJP of blurring the lines between “attacking Trinamool” and “attacking Bengal”.
“The apex court and Calcutta High Court will be informed (of the developments).I believe the state’s (legal) counsels will bring it to their notice,” Banerjee said addressing reporters at Trinamool Bhavan, where he played excerpts of the 33-minute video.
Bengal leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari, however, said Banerjee had a hand in this “conspiracy” and claimed that Gangadhar Koyal — who was heard in the video — had already mailed a complaint to the CBI.
“There is a reason why we say BJP is Bangla-birodhi. For Rs 2,000, they sold the honour and self-esteem of 10 crore Bengalis before 140 crore people in India. I understand their angst at Trinamool as they are fighting against us, but why defame Bengal? Is rape a political tool? During the second phase of polls, they deployed NSG and used robots in Sandeshkhali to influence people. It was almost a scene reminiscent of Chandrayaan’s landing on the moon. And now the truth is out. The Prime Minister says Hindus in Bengal are second-class citizens, I ask you (the media) do you feel the same?” he said.
Urging the judiciary and a section of media to self-introspect on Sandeshkhali, Banerjee said: “There is a reason why the Constitution mandates a state list, a central list and a concurrent list. Law and order is a state subject.”
In the Sandeshkhali case, “just because BJP went (to the HC) with a CBI probe plea, it was granted without even giving the state police a chance (to probe),” he said. “What should be the rule? The state police probes first and if they fail, a CBI probe can be ordered. Now, in the light of these developments, can they (past HC orders and observations) be undone? The way in which Sandeshkhali was pilloried nationally and internationally, will they now apologize,” Banerjee asked.
Addressing reporters, Bengal BJP spokesperson and RS MP Samik Bhattacharya said: “This video is completely fake. We demand a CBI probe. This is a sinister attempt to defame the Bengal LOP. In doing this, TMC has actually insulted women who were abused in Sandeshkhali.”
State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said the party was probing the issue. “We are looking into it. I do not think there is any such issue. We are trying to find out whether Trinamool has done this by luring (people),” he said. Majumdar called the video “fake” a couple of hours later.
BJP spokesperson Tarunjyoti Tiwari accused TMC of “seeing fabrications in everything”. “Sandeshkhali’s women went to court and alleged torture. A case has been filed based on Rekha Patra’s complaint. TMC will not be able to conceal what happened in Sandeshkhali,” he said.