BJP's Basirhat candidate Rekha Patra lodged a complaint with the National Commission for Women against TMC nominee Debangshu Bhattacharyya for alleged 'violation of her privacy'.
She also sent a letter to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, claiming that Bhattacharyya, the TMC candidate for the Tamluk Lok Sabha seat and the leader of the party's social media team, disclosed her personal information and bank account details to the public.
What did the letter say?
The letter sent to NCSC reportedly said, "Recently, through a post on Debangshu Bhattacharyya's Facebook account, the TMC candidate from Tamluk has shared the private details of my client, such as phone number, bank account details, Swasthya Sathi scheme details, as well as the Duare Sarkar scheme details, which is a clear violation of my client's right to privacy and an outrage to her modesty by making her personal details public."
The BJP candidate, through her counsel, urged the commissions to take immediate action against the TMC leader for "violating her right to privacy, outraging her modesty, and breaching provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Protection (Prevention of Atrocities) Act".
What happened?
The TMC on Thursday said that BJP candidate Rekha Patra availed of the state’s ‘Swasthya Sathi’ health insurance scheme, prompting the saffron party to assert that the ruling party should not claim proprietorship of any social welfare projects which are funded by taxpayers’ money.
In a post on X, the TMC’s Tamluk candidate and the party’s social media wing head Debangshu Bhattacharya claimed that Patra had availed the state-sponsored health insurance scheme in 2021.
Bhattacharya also shared a purported card used by Patra which showed she had attended a ‘Duare Sarkar’ (state government outreach programme) camp) on March 25, 2021, to avail the benefits of Swasthya Sathi and Lakshmir Bhandar, a financial assistance scheme for women.
How did BJP react?
Referring to Bhattacharya’s post, Adhikari claimed in a rally in Kolkata that the “uprising of poor, marginalised women in Sandeshkhali” will mark the end of the reign of TMC in West Bengal.
Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, said, “I am stunned by their (TMC) audacity. How can you post in public the Swasthya Sathi and Duare Sarkar details of an individual on social media?”
“Also more importantly, if a citizen of Bengal makes a move to avail the social welfare benefit schemes of the state government, how can you point fingers at her? Can the TMC claim proprietorship to state projects? Is West Bengal TMC’s zamindari?” he asked.
How did TMC react?
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said that everyone is certainly entitled to the state’s welfare projects but BJP should refrain from peddling "falsehood" that benefits of such projects do not reach the intended beneficiaries.
Adhikari also claimed that the Lok Sabha elections will begin the end of TMC rule in Bengal.
“Within the next six months, the Mamata Banerjee government will be thrown in the Bay of Bengal. BJP will win more than 30 seats and the TMC government will collapse,” he said.
Patra, a hoousewife hailing from the troubled area of Sandeshkhali and a purported victim of torture at the hands of the detained TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his associates, has been selected by the BJP as a candidate to run for the Basirhat parliamentary constituency, to which Sandeshkhali belongs.
