Kolkata: Criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party for fielding Bhojpuri Singer Pawan Singh from Asansol seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is anti-Bengali, adding that the BJP is giving tickets to those "who speak ill of women", however, BJP in its reply said that TMC leaders must visit Sandeshkhali before making such remarks.
Pawan Singh announced earlier today that he won't be contesting from the Asansol seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
In this regard, TMC MP Derek O'Brien said, "He came here, lectured on 'Nari Shakti' and then gave a ticket to someone who has vilified Bengali women. That's the 'Modi ki guarantee'. If you speak ill of Bengal, if you speak ill of women, we'll give you a ticket."
Responding to the remarks, BJP leader Ajay Alok said, "Derek O'Brien should go to Sandeshkhali and see the atrocities against women then he will release who is anti-Bengali."
Earlier in the day, Pawan Singh announced that he would not be contesting from the Asansol Lok Sabha seat, however, he did not mention any specific reason for this move.
"I express my heartfelt gratitude to the top leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party trusted me and declared me as the candidate from Asansol but due to some reason, I will not be able to contest the elections from Asansol," Pawan Singh posted on X.
In this regard, TMC leader Shatrughan Sinha, who also represents Asansol in the Lok Sabha, refrained from commenting and said that this is BJP's internal matter.
"The decision to contest or not to contest is the party's internal matter. I am not one to comment on this," he said.
The BJP has drawn sharp criticism from the TMC after it decided to field Pawan Singh from Asansol.
TMC leader Babul Supriyo said that he has nothing against the Bhojpuri artist but his videos have multiple times insulted Bengali women.
"I have nothing against him or as an artist. But in the videos and movies, particularly of a person, Bengali women are targeted, how can the BJP field such a person from Asansol. It is clear that he was asked to tweet this deliberately. It is impossible for the BJP to release its first list without talking to the candidates," he said.
Congress leader Pawan Khera on Sunday said that on one hand, the BJP is raising the issue of the Sandeshkali incident, and on the other hand, it is fielding singers like Pawan Singh to fight polls.
Pawan Khera also questioned whether Prime Minister Modi was aware of Pawan Singh's image.
"This is an interesting case. All the agencies are under the control of the PM. Wasn't he aware of Pawan Singh's image? Now he gets to know that after 24 hours. This depicts what kind of government there is in the country. All the agencies are there to keep an eye on the opposition. It is obvious now that people like Harsh Vardhan are taking retirement because this is the era of Pawan Singh," Khera said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)