Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], October 15 : Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Lekhasri Samantsinghar on Wednesday strongly condemned the Durgapur gangrape case and launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that the party was indulging in "rape tourism" in Odisha and West Bengal for political mileage.
Speaking to ANI, the party leader stated that the Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Manjhi-led government had been "shedding crocodile tears over the rape victim", further calling it "pure politics."
"After making Odisha the crime capital of the country, the BJP government of Odisha is now indulging in rape tourism...The incident is extremely condemnable...Bengal has become unsafe for women. However, it is even more unsafe for women in Odisha...The Mohan Majhi government is going to West Bengal to shed crocodile tears over the rape victim, and they are making the video viral with such insensitivity..." she said.
Accusing the BJP of attempting to draw a false comparison with the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-ruled state, the BJD leader said the ruling party was trying to project the issue as a "BJP versus TMC" narrative instead of acknowledging its own failures.
They want to portray themselves in a better light, as if we are better than West Bengal...You want to project that it is BJP v/s TMC...What the Odisha government is doing is pure politics over the brutal rape of a girl, and we condemn this attitude and the insensitivity of these leaders...This will not be accepted...This kind of dual politics exposes the anti-women face of the BJP," Samantsinghar added.
BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sulata Deo also condemned the incident, questioning the BJP government's silence on crimes against women within Odisha. She pointed out that despite submitting a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu during her visit to the state, no significant action had been taken.
"First of all, I strongly condemn this incident...You call a rape victim and make it viral?... There have been 37,611 cases registered in Odisha over the past 15 months. How many people did you call?... We gave a memorandum to the President during her visit to Odisha. What happened to that?... What is it if not politics?... It is not wrong to visit (West Bengal), but why are you silent about Odisha?.. Women of Odisha also want safety from you..." Deo told ANI.
The remarks from BJD leaders come amid nationwide outrage over the alleged gangrape of a second-year medical student in Durgapur, West Bengal, last Friday night. The survivor, who hails from Odisha, was reportedly attacked by a group of men near her college campus.