The video featuring its Sandeshkhali unit chief allegedly making the claims is ‘tampered’, the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed.
The Trinamool Congress on Saturday released a video purportedly showing a Bharatiya Janata Party leader claiming that sexual harassment complaints against functionaries of West Bengal’s ruling party in Sandeshkhali were filed at the behest of Suvendu Adhikari, a leader of the Hindutva party.
In the video, BJP’s Sandeshkhali unit chief Gangadhar Kayl, or Koyal, can be heard saying: “We got it done [complaints of sexual harassment in Sandeshkhali] as per instructions of Suvendu da [Suvendu Adhikari], he helped us. Suvendu da said if you do not do this, then you would not be able to get the strong people arrested and sustain yourself.”
“[We] asked to get these rape complaints made and I got it done…” the man can be heard claiming in the video. “They [women in Sandeshkhali] did whatever we told them to do. We told them that your protest won’t be successful until they [Shahjahan Sheikh and Shibu Prasad Hazra] are arrested.”
Reacting to the video, Trinamool Congress’ chief Mamata Banerjee said that the “shocking Sandeshkhali sting shows how deep the rot is within the BJP”.
