TMC slams BJP MP’s ‘thumka’ comment on Mamata Banerjee; Mahua Moitra says, ‘That is why you’ll never win Bengal’

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Giriraj Singh’s comment on Mamata Banerjee dancing with Bollywood stars at the inauguration of the Kolkata Film Festival has invited sharp remarks from the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The West Bengal chief minister was earlier seen celebrating with the likes of Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Mahesh Bhatt, Shatrughan Sinha and Sonakshi Sinha.

What did Giriraj Singh say on Mamata Banerjee?

The BJP MP told ABP News, “Jis rajya mein garib lut rahe hon, bhrashtachar ho aur uski mukhyamantri jashn mana rahi hain, thumke laga rahi hain, ye uchit nahin hai (In a state where the poor are being robbed…there is corruption….the chief minister is celebrating, dancing…this is not right!”

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"Festival mein thumke lagana kaun jaroori hai, vo rahti kursi par baithi hui (Is it necessary to dance at the festival? She could have remained seated in her chair),” he added. “Mamata Banerjee jashn mana rahi hain aur log bhukh se mar rahe hain, berozgaari se mar rahe hain, bhrashtachar mein doobi hui sarkar hai (Mamata Banerjee is celebrating while people are dying of hunger and unemployment. The government is utterly corrupt."

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The minister later said that he didn't use the word “thumka” and that TMC was exaggerating it to confuse people.

How TMC has reacted

The ruling party in West Bengal, while calling the comment “misogynistic”, has demanded an apology from the BJP MP.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra has slammed the Minister of Panchayati Raj of India. The one who has held back the funds for MGNREGA and the housing scheme is telling people what is right and wrong, she said.

“The reason we are celebrating in Bengal is because we don’t have to put up with the likes of you. It’s because we’ve kept the BJP at bay. We live a life. We love. We enjoy our culture, our film, our entertainment. That is something you and the BJP will never understand. And, that is why you’ll never win Bengal,” she said in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Shashi Panja, Minister of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare of West Bengal, has said that “it's too less” even if the minister apologises for his comment.

“We are full of anger...we would ask BJP who gave you the right to disrespect a woman?” she told ANI.

State finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya has called the comment “demeaning”. She said Salman Khan and other guests had asked Banerjee to join them in the celebration and she obliged.