BJP slams Mamata for linking RSS to Sandeshkhali row

NEW DELHI: The BJP slammed West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday for her suggestion that the RSS may be behind the allegations of sexual assault levelled against her party’s members by several women in Sandeshkhali, describing her remarks as shameful and irresponsible.

“A woman chief minister is saying so. Shame on you. Why have you become so ugly, so cruel, so anti-women Mamataji?” BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said at a press conference here.

Banerjee had said in the state Assembly that Sandeshkhali has become a base of the Hindutva organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), considered as an ideological inspiration for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Prasad said Banerjee was also critical of the women complainants in Sandeshkhali.

He claimed that had a BJP chief minister said similar things, a storm would have been raised in the country by leaders like Rahul Gandhi, opposition parties and human rights groups. “This is called shameful double standards,” the BJP leader said.

Banerjee had said in the assembly, “It has come to light how BJP workers have been brought and violence was instigated in a planned manner.” She said the region has been a “vulnerable riot area” and the BJP has been trying to pitch the minorities against the Adivasis.

“It is not new. The RSShas a base there. Riots took place there seven-eight years ago. It is one of the most vulnerable riot spots,” she said.

Sandeshkhali has been witnessing protests over alleged atrocities on locals by ruling TMC leaders.

Protests have been held in Sandeshkhali for the last several days, with a significant number of women taking to the streets, demanding the arrest of TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his followers.

The accusations against Sheikh and his aides include forcibly capturing land and sexually harassing women.

Sheikh has been absconding since January 5 when a mob attacked Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers during a raid at his residence in connection with an alleged ration scam. His aide Sibhu Hazra is also at large.