Bharatiya Janata Party leader Anupam Hazra has courted a controversy by saying he “will hug Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee if he is infected by the COVID-19” to make her feel the pain of the families of the pandemic patients.
Mr. Hazra, newly appointed national general secretary of the BJP, is a former Trinamool Congress MP, who had represented the Birbhum Lok Sabha seat. The remarks made at a party programme in Baruipur in the South 24 Parganas on Sunday evening triggered an outrage on Monday. Mr. Hazra was speaking to media persons on the COVID-19 situation and how bodies have been denied any respect when he went a little too far.
Mr. Hazra, who taught social work at the Visva Bharati University, was TMC MP from Bolpur from 2014 to 2019. He was expelled from the TMC in January 2019 and joined the BJP. He contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Jadavpur seat and lost to TMC’s Mimi Chakrborty.
The police complaint was filed by the TMC in Siliguri and the party leadership condemned the remarks . The BJP State leadership has distanced itself from the remarks.
Senior TMC leader Saugata Roy said the remarks reflect the “mindset” of the BJP. Minister Indranil Sen used harsher words to criticise the BJP leader.
“And such uncouth people are office bearers of @BJP4India! Shame on you @tweetanupam, you are not just an insensitive leader but also a disrespectful human being,” Mr. Sen tweeted.
The political rhetoric has hit a new low over the past few years with the war of words between the BJP and the ruling party. Among other leaders, State BJP president Dilip Ghosh has often courted controversy by his public remarks directed at the TMC.
