A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was indulging in character assassination, State unit BJP president Rahul Sinha sought a clarification.
“Ms. Banerjee has alleged [in a post on a social networking site] that the BJP has insulted women. I would like to appeal to her to furnish evidences when we have done so. In fact, it is her party [All India Trinamool Congress] members who have made derogatory remarks on women,” Mr. Sinha said.
He said he was ready to tender a public apology if the BJP was found guilty of making derogatory remarks on women.
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Stating that he and his party had immense respect for Ms. Banerjee, Mr. Sinha said: “I have never permitted any party worker to burn effigies of Ms. Banerjee during a protest demonstration as she is a woman. Instead of making public statements on the Bardhman blast, she chose to comment on other issues.”
Ms. Banerjee, in her post on Tuesday, stated that the BJP’s ‘irresponsible comments’ reminded her of the Emergency days and she did not want to see the ‘deterioration and demolition’ of democracy. Reacting to this, Mr. Sinha pointed out that at the time of Emergency; Ms. Banerjee was a member of the Congress, which had imposed the Emergency.
Questioning why the AITC had initially opposed the probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the Bardhman blast, Mr. Sinha wondered if Ms. Banerjee had issued any dissent note or objection when the law on the NIA was passed in 2008, making it mandatory for State governments to cooperate with the NIA if the Centre deemed such a probe is necessary. AITC spokesperson Derek O’ Brien had earlier said that the NIA probe would affect the country’s federal structure and raised doubts on the NIA’s competency in solving other blast cases in the country.
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