BJP targets Mamata Banerjee over women's complaints from restive Sandeshkhali

The strongly worded attack from Union Minister Smriti Irani at a press conference came following allegations by a group of women in Sandeshkhali that TMC's Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters captured swathes of land by force and sexually assaulted them

Smriti Irani : File

PTI, New Delhi, 12.02.24 : The BJP on Monday launched a sharp attack on West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, alleging that she is known for "genocide of Hindus" and is now allowing her party's workers to sexually attack women.

The strongly worded attack from Union Minister Smriti Irani at a press conference came following allegations by a group of women in Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district that Trinamul Congress' local strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters captured swathes of land by force and sexually assaulted them. They demanded his immediate arrest.

He has been absconding since last month after a team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that went to raid his house in connection with an alleged ration scam was attacked by a mob of his supporters.

Irani alleged that Banerjee is known for "genocide of Hindus". "That she will now allow her men to pick out Hindu young married women to rape them night after night in the TMC office cannot be articulated in mere words," she said, citing the details of the allegations.

"The question is can we as citizens be mute spectators," the Union minister said, accusing the TMC supremo of trading the dignity of vulnerable communities like scheduled castes and scheduled tribes for "political benefits".

Noting that the chief minister holds the charge of the home department, Irani, in an apparent swipe at the Congress, said those who are leading a yatra for justice in the country are also keeping mum.

It is a state-sponsored assault on Hindus, she alleged.

West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Monday morning reached Kolkata from Kerala, and straightaway left for Sandeshkhali.

Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari and several other MLAs of the party were stopped from visiting the unrest-hit area, with the police citing the imposition of prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.