West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. File | Photo Credit: PTI
Alleging that the “mistruth” about Sandeshkhali was spread by the BJP using money, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on May 5 called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop “shedding crocodile tears” as the “conspiracy hatched by the saffron party” has come to the fore with the unravelling of a recent sting.
The TMC on Saturday released a video on social media, in which a man, who claimed to be a BJP mandal president in Sandeshkhali, was heard saying that Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, was behind the “whole conspiracy”.
In the purported video, the authenticity of could not be independently verified by the PTI, the man was heard saying that Adhikari had asked him and other BJP leaders of the area to “instigate three-four local women to level allegations of rape against three TMC leaders, including Shajahan Sheikh”.
Addressing an election rally in Bolpur Lok Sabha seat in support of TMC candidate and sitting MP Satabdi Roy, Banerjee said, “Blatant lies were invented by the BJP, which plotted a conspiracy by giving money to some people to tell lies.” “Did anyone ever imagine that BJP would stoop so low that it would spread canards on Sandeshkhali? Don’t dishonour the mothers of West Bengal by leveling such heinous allegations. Don’t dare try to disrespect women of the state by offering them money to level false allegations against our party,” Banerjee said.
Accusing PM Modi of taking the words of “few people” in his party on face value, she said that “by seeing the reaction of BJP leaders to the video, it was apparent that they were scared”.
“However, if some people, including those from the TMC, committed any wrong, the party and the state government have always been quick to take disciplinary action against them, no matter how powerful they are,” she asserted.
Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district had erupted in protests after women accused now-suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his associates of sexual abuse and land grabbing. He has been arrested and is now in CBI custody.
Mamata doing this to hide sin committed in Sandeshkhali, says West Bengal BJP chief
West Bengal BJP chief and Lok Sabha candidate from Balurghat, Sukanta Majumdar on May 4 said the alleged Sandeshkhali sting video was “propaganda” and claimed it was being used by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to “hide and suppress the sin committed in Sandeshkhali.”
“To hide and suppress the sin committed in Sandeshkhali, Mamata Banerjee is doing all this. A video has surfaced but will you trust the video or the women who are speaking about it through affidavit. Mamata Banerjee should have gone and talked to the women of Sandeskhali…This is just propaganda to suppress it,” he told ANI.
On Saturday, a video of a sting operation surfaced that has stirred up controversy in Sandeshkhali which was broadcast by a local television channel. In the alleged video, a person, purportedly a BJP Mandal (booth) president named Gangadhar Koyal is heard saying that Sandeshkhali women, who weren’t sexually assaulted, were projected as ‘rape’ victims at the behest of the LoP.
Claiming that Mr. Suvendu ‘helped’ him get this done, the person in the video said that the former told him that the TMC’s strongmen in the area wouldn’t be arrested unless he is falsely implicated in a “rape case”.
However, the news channel that broke the alleged sting operation did not check the veracity of the clip.
(with inputs from ANI)
