New Delhi [India], May 5 : Claiming that the BJP scripted the Sandeshkhali horrors to defame the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state, TMC leader Shashi Panja said that the Sandeshkhali incident was fabricated by the BJP leaders and they told "lies as grave as mass rapes".
Shashi Panja said, "BJP leaders scripted lies as grave as mass rapes in the Sandeshkhali incident. Suvendu Adhikari has been named. Women have been misguided there. Women have been tutored to say these lines for money. In Bengal, CM Mamata Banerjee believes in women's empowerment and the BJP played on the issue to disempower women.
Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghosh said that the Sandeshkhali incident was conspired by the BJP and even a single rape did not take place.
"Rapes have not taken place in Sandeshkhali. This is a conspiracy by the BJP. BJP wanted to create communal tensions here so that the president's rule is implemented. TMC has worked for women's empowerment. BJP wanted to conduct a strike on our policy of women's empowerment. By giving Rs 2000 to women, false rape cases have been framed," Sagarika Ghosh said,
She further said that the BJP wanted to build a strong case and land-grabbing charges were not enough so false allegations of rape were imposed. BJP leaders are the actual culprits in the Sandeshkhali case.
Earlier, amid allegations by the TMC that West Bengal Leader of Operation Suvendu Adhikari "hatched the Sandeshkhali conspiracy" as shown in a sting operation video, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader shot back saying that though truth can be "twisted" but its "shelf life" is short.
"The truth can be twisted and a misleading version can be circulated. However, it's shelf life is very very short. Ultimately, Truth prevails. Next time, keep it in mind, Koyla Bhaipo (Coal Nephew)," Adhikari said in a post on 'X' referring to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee who has been accused of being involved in the alleged coal scam.
A video of a sting operation surfaced that has stirred up controversy in Sandeshkhali which was broadcast by a local television channel.
In the alleged video, a person, purportedly a BJP Mandal (booth) president named Gangadhar Koyal is heard saying that Sandeshkhali women, who weren't sexually assaulted, were projected as 'rape' victims at the behest of the LoP.
Claiming that Suvendu 'helped' him get this done, the person in the video said that the former told him that the TMC's strongmen in the area wouldn't be arrested unless he is falsely implicated in a "rape case".