KOLKATA: A BJP block president is seen saying Sandeshkhali was planned by his party.
The Trinamool Congress today released a purported sting video of a BJP block president of Sandeshkhali who is heard saying that BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari had orchestrated the entire Sandeshkhali incident. The BJP denied all involvement and demanded a CBI probe into the veracity of the tape, which it says was doctored.
A video posted by the Trinamool Congress and retweeted by Mamata Banerjee and many other party leaders, features Gangadhar Koyal, the BJP’s Mandal Sabhapati of Sandeshkhali II block, who is seen claiming that BJP’s Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, funded and organised the Sandeshkhali protests. Koyal is seen claiming that the women of Sandeshkhali were “brain-washed” into levelling false allegations of rape and molestation.
Speaking at an election rally in Chakdah in Nadia district, Mamata Banerjee said: “The entire Sandeshkhali incident was pre-planned. The BJP had scripted it well. The truth has been exposed. I have been saying this for a long time.”
Mamata Banerjee, while sharing the purported clip of sting on X, wrote: “The shocking Sandeshkhali sting shows how deep the rot is within the BJP. In their hatred for Bengal’s progressive thought & culture, the Bangla-Birodhis orchestrated a conspiracy to defame our state on every possible level. Never before in the history of India has a ruling party in Delhi tried to malign an entire state and its people. History will witness how Bengal will rise in rage against Delhi’s conspiratorial regime & ensure their Bishorjon. From “mass rape” to “arms seizure,” every claim was BOUGHT and STAGED by none other than Suvendu Adhikari. People won’t forgive these Bangla-Birodhis. Bengal’s mothers & sisters shall avenge this!”
The Trinamool Congress further released a post titled “Big expose on Sandeshkhali,” accusing Adhikari of fabricating a narrative of mass rapes and planting guns in a house in Sandeshkhali to defame Bengal.
Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee said that he was “shocked” over the Sandeshkhali sting video and condemned the BJP’s attempt to defame and malign West Bengal. He described the BJP’s actions as “gross abuse of power and a matter of shame”.
Suvendu Adhikari told the media that the fake video was the handiwork of Abhishek Banerjee, Prateek Jain of I-PAC and video journalist Tamal Saha. He said that Gangadhar Koyal was going to lodge a complaint with the CBI.
In the purported sting video, Gangadhar Koyal alleged that Suvendu Adhikari had asked him and other BJP leaders of the area to “instigate three-four local women to level allegations of rape against three TMC leaders, including Shahjahan Sheikh”. The man was also heard saying that Nandigram MLA Adhikari himself had planted guns at a house in Sandeshkhali, which was later shown as the seizure by Central agencies.
In response, BJP spokesperson Shankudeb Panda dismissed the allegations, accusing the Trinamool Congress of insulting women in Sandeshkhali and Bengal. He claimed that the Trinamool resorted to releasing a doctored video due to its inability to address public anger over the Sandeshkhali incident.
Later in the day, Suvendu Adhikari tweeted a video bite of Gangadhar Koyal in which he said that the video was a doctored one made with the intention of maligning the women of Sandeshkhali and the BJP, and was a conspiracy by the Trinamool Congress.