game ape Bengal: BJP's Suvendu Accuses Govt Of Framing 'False Charges' Against Sandeshkhali Women

A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attended a programme in Sandeshkhali, senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday held a rally at the same place and accused her government of framing "false charges" against women in the area for protesting against the alleged misdeeds by local TMC leaders.

Addressing a public meeting on the island, situated on the borders of the Sundarbans, in North 24 Parganas district, Adhikari described Banerjee as a person "with mischievous intent".

The leader of opposition in the assembly vowed to constitute an inquiry commission to probe into alleged atrocities by local TMC leaders if the BJP comes to power in the 2026 assembly polls.

"Mamata Banerjee had conspired for the arrest of mothers and sisters at Sandeshkhali before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. They were slapped with false charges and arrested for protesting against the atrocities by local TMC strongmen like Shahjahan Sheikh. You (Mamata Banerjee) will face action for abetting such oppression if the BJP comes to power," Adhikari said.

Sandeshkhali witnessed large-scale protests earlier this year over alleged land-grabbing and sexual harassment of women by local TMC leaders.

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On her first visit to Sandeshkhali since protests erupted over alleged atrocities by local TMC leaders, Banerjee had on Monday asked people in the area not to pay anyone to avail benefits of state-run schemes.

Banerjee had visited the island to chair a public distribution programme.

The CM also urged local women not to pay attention if anyone calls them for any reason and alleged that a huge amount of money was used to flare up the protest in Sandeshkhali.

Adhikari claimed that the TMC managed to win the Basirhat Lok Sabha Seat, of which Sandeshkhali is an assembly segment, "because of Muslim votes".

"The BJP, however, was ahead in the Sandeshkhali assembly segment. The results of the next assembly elections in Sandeshkhali will be in the BJP's favour as Hindus have already consolidated. They witnessed persecution by the TMC and would vote collectively against the ruling party," he claimed.

Adhikari also said that the BJP had won from Nandigram in the 2021 assembly polls and from Tamluk in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections "with consolidated Hindu votes", and asserted that this "momentum will continue".

Accusing the TMC of resorting to "unfair electoral practices", he claimed that the nomination paper of late TMC MP from Basirhat Hazi Sk Nurul Islam was fraught with "flaws" and Rekha Patra, BJP's candidate from the area in Lok Sabha polls, lodged a complaint with the Election Commission.

Adhikari also blamed the TMC regime for "growing unemployment" in the state, claiming that there are "around two crore unemployed in Bengal at present".

He accused the state government of changing the names of central projects like the PM Awas Yojana, and alleged that the people of the state were deprived of financial aid under these schemes.

Adhikari also alleged that the "TMC took the help of its hired people to launch fake videos and implicate simple and innocent people of Sandeshkhali".

"A huge amount of cash was spent for that agenda," the BJP leader claimed.

In January this year, ED officers were assaulted and their vehicles damaged when they went to the residence of now-suspended TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan in Sandeshkhali to conduct a raid in connection with a multi-crore ration distribution scam.

Subsequentlygame ape, several women in the area claimed that Shahjahan and his men had captured swathes of land and sexually harassed them.