Kolkata: Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress has been up in arms against a controversial comment by High Court judge-turned-politician Abhijit Gangopadhyay that targets Mamata Banerjee. The former judge's purported comment -- videos of which are circulating online -- has provided massive ammunition to Trinamool, which has tagged the BJP as "anti-women" since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Didi-O-Didi" taunt in 2021.
The BJP claimed it was a "fake video". "We don't agree with the existence of any such videos. This is a ploy by the TMC to release fake videos and malign the BJP. But that won't make any difference in the elections," BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
The purported video of Mr Gangopadhyay, who is contesting from Tamluk, comes amid the Sandeshkhali row and the subsequent battle for the support of the state's women voters.
"A leader who has worked as a politically-minded upholder of the legal system and then went to the BJP, has made a disgusting comment about the only woman Chief Minister of the country," said senior Trinamool leader Santanu Sen.
Mamata Banerjee, he pointed out, is a seven-time legislator, a former Union minister and a three-time Chief Minister. Now, a remark in "such poor taste" has been made against her, he said. "Is this Modi's guarantee that in the interest of politics, women will be accorded no respect?" he added.
"I cannot even repeat the kind of language Abhijit Ganguly used for our Didi. They said 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao'. But when the same daughter is being disrespected, PM Modi is silent," said Trinamool's Kirti Azad. "The cases of Unnao, Hathras, Bilkis Bano, are in front of us... This kind of disrespect can only be dished out by the BJP," said the former cricketer.
In 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's taunt for Ms Banerjee was seen as a factor in the Trinamool's landslide victory in the assembly election. After Congress's Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha after his allegedly derogatory comment on backward classes, the Trinamool demanded that the Prime Minister also be disqualified over his "derogatory comments" on women.
In December last year, Union minister Giriraj Singh's "thumka laga rahi hai" comment about Ms Banerjee shaking a leg with celebrities, had infuriated Trinamool.
"It is evident that the BJP leaders find it incredibly hard to fathom a woman in power challenging their authority. Their archaic mindset, steeped in gender biases, is blatantly on display," the party had posted on social media.