The West Bengal Police have registered a first information report against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dilip Ghosh for his comments about Trinamool Congress leader and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, The Indian Express reported.
Ghosh is the Hindutva party’s candidate from the state’s Bardharman-Durgapur constituency for the Lok Sabha elections.
On Tuesday, ANI had shared a video in which Ghosh, a former president of BJP’s West Bengal unit, can be heard saying to reporters: “When didi [Banerjee] goes to Goa, she calls herself the daughter of Goa. When she goes to Tripura, she says that she is the daughter of Tripura. She should first identify her own father.”
This was a reference to the Trinamool Congress’s poll slogan during the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections: “Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chaye [Bengal wants its own daughter]”.
On Wednesday, Durgapur residents Kajal Das and Manoj Chand filed a complaint at the Durgapur police station alleging that Ghosh’s comments intruded on the chief minister’s privacy and insulted her modesty, reported The Indian Express.
Ghosh has been booked under the Indian Penal Code sections 504 (intentional insults and provocation likely to cause breach in public peace) and 509 (insult to modesty of women).
Das, in her complaint, said that Ghosh’s behaviour created the impression that it was acceptable to insult a woman and go unpunished. If an individual could insult a chief minister in such a manner, anybody would be able to insult a woman and not face any consequences, the complaint stated.
Shortly after Ghosh’s remark on Tuesday, the Trinamool Congress filed a complaint with the Election Commission alleging a violation of the Model Code of Conduct by the BJP leader.
The Model Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission that political parties and governments are mandated to follow while campaigning.
The poll body issued notice to Ghosh and asked him to respond by March 29, India Today reported.
The BJP had also issued notice to Ghosh, asking him to clarify his comments about Banerjee.
Ghosh said he would respond to the BJP’s notice with an official letter. “This is not the first time that I have faced a controversy over my statement, because I speak in front of those who commit injustice,” the BJP leader was quoted as saying by ANI. “Many people including the party said that I used unparliamentary language, if it is so then I express my sadness at it.”
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