West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of spreading misinformation about Sandeshkhali by using money. She urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop "shedding crocodile tears", asserting that a recent sting operation has exposed the saffron party's alleged conspiracy.
The TMC on Saturday released a video on social media, in which a man, who claimed to be a BJP mandal president in Sandeshkhali, was heard saying that Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, was behind the "whole conspiracy".
What Did Mamata Banerjee Say?
Addressing an election rally in Bolpur Lok Sabha seat in support of TMC candidate and sitting MP Satabdi Roy, Banerjee said, "Blatant lies were invented by the BJP, which plotted a conspiracy by giving money to some people to tell lies."
"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 leveling such heinous allegations. Don't dare try to disrespect women of the state by offering them money to level false allegations against our party," Banerjee said.
Accusing PM Modi of taking the words of "few people" in his party on face value, she said that "by seeing the reaction of BJP leaders to the video, it was apparent that they were scared".
"However, if some people, including those from the TMC, committed any wrong, the party and the state government have always been quick to take disciplinary action against them, no matter how powerful they are," she asserted.
What Did The Sting Operation Reveal?
In the purported video shared by the Trinamool Congress, a man claimed to be Gangadhar Kayal who is a BJP mandal president in Sandeshkhali, was heard saying that the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly "Suvendu Adhikari is behind the whole conspiracy".
He also said that Adhikari 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".
He was heard saying, "Adhikari himself had planted guns at a house in Sandeshkhali, which was later shown as the seizure by central agencies".
How Did BJP Respond?
Responding to the TMC’s allegations, Adhikari said, “It is a fake and doctored video. It seems that the TMC sensed defeat (in the election) and is trying to divert attention. There have been hundreds of complaints by women of Sandeshkhali."
In his written complaint to the CBI, Kayal said, the video in question was uploaded from an unverified YouTube channel owned by someone named ‘Williams’.
“It can be seen that the same (footage) has been made using my face and the voice has been moduled using Artificial Intelligence (AI) so that it can mislead the public at large,” the BJP mandal president said.
In his complaint, Kayal also provided the link to the YouTube video.
The “edited” video was made “to safeguard the actual culprits of Sandeshkhali incidents by shifting the blame and the burden to the person who stood by the victims of the Sandeshkhali incident and also to disturb the ongoing investigation conducted by the CBI”, Kayal said in his letter to the agency.
Former BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said the alleged "sting video will not have any impact" on the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal
"It was not the BJP but the common people of Sandeshkhali, who protested in the streets against atrocities on women by local TMC leaders," said Ghosh, the BJP nominee for the Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha constituency.
Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district had erupted in protests after women accused now-suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his associates of sexual abuse and land grabbing. He has been arrested and is now in CBI custody.
(With PTI inputs)
