West Bengal’s Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari was in Sandeshkhali today, a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid the obscure riverine island a visit.
Sandeshkhali was in the news earlier in the year, especially in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, when there were allegations of exploitation of women and land grab. The BJP’s campaign in West Bengal during the Lok Sabha elections pivoted around Sandeshkhali.
Yesterday Mamata Banerjee had termed the Sandeshkhali allegations as lies and said there was a huge game of money being played there. Suvendu Adhikari – once a close aide of Ms Banerjee who joined the BJP ahead of the 2021 assembly election — hit back.
“If there is a BJP government formed in the state, there will be a commission on the Sandeshkhali incident. And for the women you’ve sent to jail, remember the BJP will send you to jail for making these women go to jail in false cases. We will take revenge, with interest,” Mr Adhikari said.
Though Sandeshkhali became a major campaign pitch for the Lok Sabha election earlier in the year, the Trinamool held its ground despite the protests against its local leaders and won the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat, under which the Sandeshkhali assembly seat comes.
The BJP had fielded Rekha Patra, a woman from Sandeshkhali as its candidate, and the party may repeat her again when the bye-polls are announced.
Basirhat will see a bye-election again due to the death of its Member of Parliament Haji Nurul Islam and once again the Sandeshkhali issue is likely to feature prominently.
With an eye to the by-polls, Ms Banerjee had appealed to the women voters in her speech yesterday, saying, “Don’t fall into the trap of bad men. And women must remember not to go even if someone calls you”.
“If someone misleads you, or lies to you, I know there is a huge game of money here. Later you saw everything turned out to be false. Lies don’t last long, they are exposed one day,” she had said.
