Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for spreading "mistruth" about Sandeshkhali, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has called upon the prime minister to stop "shedding crocodile tears" as the "conspiracy hatched by the BJP" has come to the fore with the unravelling of a recent sting.
Earlier on Saturday, the Trinamool Congress released a video (whose authenticity could not be independently verified by Livemint), in which a man--who claims to be the mandal president of the saffron party in Sandeshkhali—was heard saying that Suvendu Adhikari (Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly) 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"
"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 levelling such heinous allegations. Don't dare try to disrespect women of the state by offering them money to level false allegations against our party," Mamata Banerjee said at Bolpur election rally.
Reacting to the alleged viral video, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee said people should vote against those who want to malign the image of West Bengal. The sitting MP from Diamond Harbour urged the people of West Bengal to “Defeat those who want to demean and malign Bengal for the sake of few votes.”
Calling the Sandeshkhali incident a 'conspiracy', the TMC national general secretary said, "What is the condition of BJP?...They had said a lot about Sandeshkhali but yesterday everyone saw the Sandeshkhali video. Yesterday, it was proved that this was done to humiliate the people of Bengal...By giving ₹2,000 each to the women, BJP leaders asked them to lie and make false complaints...This is not me but Gangadhar Kayal, BJP Mandal (booth) president in Sandeshkhali, who is saying this.”
Banerjee was speaking at a public rally at Krishnanagar in Nadia district in support of TMC candidate Mahua Maitra.
Reacting to the viral video, another TMC leader, Shashi Panja, said, “...the ground reality has come out through a sting operation by digital media...Gangadhar Kayl, BJP Mondal Sabhapati is saying in the video that 'rape has not happened and we made the world believe that rape has happened'...everybody should see this video, this shows how low BJP can stoop...now everyone should apologise ...video is against BJP so that's why they are saying it is fake, if it is fake, why can't they bring up the original video?...
Meanwhile, Dilip Ghosh, the BJP candidate for the Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha seat, said,” People are being bought and sold (under the TMC). They are even being seated or installed at the Raj Bhavan in exchange for money.”
Speaking to ANI, Ghosh said, “this (alleged sting video) wouldn't make any difference (to the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections in the state). It was not the BJP but the common people of Sandeshkhali who erupted in protest and came out on the streets against the ruling party. (Sheikh) Shahjahan (expelled TMC strongman and key Sandeshkhali accused) has confessed to the charges against him. It was his henchmen who attacked the ED and CBI (teams).”
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