As Abhijit Gangopadhyay’s remarks spark a row, a look at BJP leaders’ jibes at Mamata

During the 2021 Assembly elections, the then state BJP president Dilip Ghosh stoked a row by saying that Mamata should wear bermudas in order to display her plastered leg. The CM had then been spearheading her party’s campaign on a wheelchair after she was injured during electioneering in Nandigram on March 10, 2021.

While addressing a rally in Purulia on March 23, 2021, Ghosh asked why the TMC chief wasn’t wearing a pair of bermudas instead of a sari, which would show her injury to the electorate. “The CM wants to show everyone her plastered leg. Why doesn’t she just wear a pair of bermudas, instead of draping a sari?… I have never seen anyone drape a sari like that,” Ghosh claimed.

He went on to defend his remarks, saying “She is our CM, we expect her to act appropriately, befitting Bengal’s culture. A woman showing her legs in a sari is inappropriate. People are objecting. I found it objectionable. So I spoke”.

After the TMC’s landslide victory in the 2021 elections, a section of the BJP leadership targeted Ghosh for his insensitive remarks against Mamata, saying that it had “tarnished” the BJP’s image in the state.

During his campaign in the state for the 2021 polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept calling Mamata “Didi o Didi”. A combative Mamata hit back, alleging that “From the way he is making the call, it looks as if he is a young man making catcalls at a neighbourhood lady. This is below civilised standards. I know many things about you, Modi and Shah. But I have the dignity not to stoop so low… I am forced to say that only someone who did not give due recognition to women in his life can crack such jokes.”

Union minister Giriraj Singh followed up with a jibe in December 2023, when he said, “Jashn mana rahi hain, thumke laga rahi hain”, referring to the CM having shared the stage with film stars Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha at the inauguration ceremony of the Kolkata International Film Festival. The actors had done a little dance and persuaded the CM to join them as well.

The BJP leaders have fired “personal” barbs at the TMC chief even during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. During a campaign speech, Dilip Ghosh said, “Didi goes to Goa and says ‘I’m Goa’s daughter’, then goes to Tripura and says ‘I’m Tripura’s daughter’. Decide who your father is. It is not good to be just anybody’s daughter.”

The BJP, however, issued a show cause notice to Ghosh, seeking an explanation for his remarks against the TMC supremo. “Your comments are unparliamentary and against the ideology of the BJP. The party condemns such comments. Upon the instructions from party chief J P Nadda, you are asked to explain your comment immediately,” the notice said.

Meanwhile, after Gangopadhyay’s controversial remarks, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued a show cause notice to him. The poll panel said the remarks were found to be “improper, injudicious and undignified”, and prima facie a violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

In his address, Gangopadhyay had referred to the Sandeshkhali sexual abuse allegations and said: “Today, the Trinamool says everything is a lie. Rekha Patra (one of the protesters and the BJP’s Basirhat candidate) was bought for Rs 2,000. Mamata Banerjee, how much are you being sold for? One gives you Rs 8 lakh and gets a job, one gives you Rs 10 lakh and ration vanishes… Why is your rate, Rs 10 lakh? Is it because you get your makeup done by Keya Seth (Kolkata-based beautician)?”

The TMC, in a statement, later said that rather than damaging the CM’s reputation, these comments gave the party an advantage in the elections. “Mamata Banerjee is the only woman Chief Minister in the country, and as a fighter, she has a soft corner in the hearts of the people of Bengal. Such statements have always damaged the BJP.”

In a post on X, the TMC said: “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.”