Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a severe attack on the Trinamool Congress (TMC) at a rally in Purulia, West Bengal, denouncing the party’s purported attempts to discredit the Sandeshkhali women protestors. Since village women organized protests in February over alleged cases of sexual assault and land grabs, this state’s riverine island has been immersed in chaos.
Claims of Personality Assassination
In an apparent allusion to local TMC leader Sheikh Shajahan, who has been linked to the Sandeshkhali incident, Modi accused TMC members of scrutinizing the “characters of the sisters of Sandeshkhali” in order to protect “their Shahjahan”. The TMC’s rhetoric against the protestors infuriated the prime minister, who declared that the “daughters of Bengal will reply to the TMC by destroying it through their votes.”
Breach of the ‘Maa, Maati, Manush’ Phrase
Modi accused the TMC of dehumanising women from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities in order to defend Shajahan Sheikh, drawing attention to the party’s flouting of its much-touted slogan of ‘Maa, Maati, Manush’ (Mother, Land, and People). He asserted that the women who had endured horrors in Sandeshkhali were the targets of finger-pointing by TMC leaders.
Claims of Religious Institution Defamation
The Prime Minister escalated his criticism even more when he claimed that the TMC had gone too far in disseminating false information against respected religious organizations like as ISKCON, Ramakrishna Mission, and Bharat Sevashram Sangha. He said that Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, had threatened these groups in an attempt to win over more voters for the party.
Reported TMC-Congress Nexus
Extending his assault, Modi asserted that the TMC and Congress in West Bengal represented “two sides of the same coin,” referencing the finding of substantial quantities of cash at the homes of Congress officials. He accused him of never trying to hide anything from the public and claimed that TMC officials also had large sums of money.
Sandeshkhali: A Controversial Flashpoint
When village women launched violent protests in February demanding the arrest of Sheikh Shajahan and his aides over accusations of sexual assault and land grabbing, the Sandeshkhali issue attracted national attention. This was quickly adopted by the BJP as a major polling strategy in the current election campaign.
On May 4, however, things took a sharp turn when the TMC made public an alleged sting film purporting to show a local BJP politician accusing politician of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari of having paid village women to make fake rape charges.
Increasing Conflicts and Arrests
On May 12, a TMC employee was attacked by a group of village women led by BJP candidate Rekha Patra, who accused him of making false recordings. Four people were taken into custody by the police in relation to the event. After TMC workers allegedly tore a poster of a BJP leader, village women blocked roads with burning tires, resulting in further conflicts.