Got pen drive, another video: Mamata attacks Governor over ‘sexual harassment’ allegations
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee demanded Governor C V Ananda Bose’s resignation and said that the CCTV footage of the Raj Bhavan premises he recently released was ‘edited’.
Banerjee said that she has watched the entire video and its contents are shocking. (Express Photo)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday claimed she has “another video, pen drive” of Governor CV Ananda Bose, who has been accusedby a Raj Bhavan contractual staffer of sexual harassment.
Her attack comes days after the Raj Bhavan showed CCTV footage of the premises from May 2 — the day of the alleged incident — to around 100 people.
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At an election rally in Hooghly, Banerjee said: “The Honourable Governor says ‘didigiri nahi chalegi’. That is true, dadagiri and didigiri nahi chalegi. But the Governor must first resign. Who is he to torture women? He recently called the press and showed a few edited videos. Why didn’t he show the entire footage? I ask the press to go through the footage carefully.”
She said: “I got another video… pen drive. More scandal. Scandal after scandal… My God… If he calls me to Raj Bhavan, I will not go. If he calls me to meet him on the streets, I will do that. But, after hearing about the scandals, even sitting next to you is a sin.”
Bose has said the charges are “engineered narratives” meant to “stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal”. On Monday, he had hit out at Banerjee, saying, “I always took the stand that her politics is not my cup of tea. Now, because of the humiliating remarks that have been made against me, I am forced to tell you, Mamata Banerjee’s politics is dirty. Still, I will pray to God to save her, but this is difficult even for God. I will never accept this ‘Didigiri’ on the distinguished office of the Governor,” he had said.
Banerjee also claimed that allegations of sexual assault from Sandeshkhali are part of a conspiracy orchestrated by the BJP. “They have spread so many lies. People have seen how the BJP orchestrated the Sandeshkhali conspiracy. Modi babu instigated the issue. For a woman, her dignity matters more than the money. What they have done is one of the most depraved crimes anyone could ever do,” she claimed.
“Complainants did not even know what they were being made to write or that they were signing fake rape complaints. This used to happen in earlier days, and should not happen in this century. The women are now stepping out and telling the truth,” she claimed. “In exchange for money, women were tricked into writing false complaints without their knowledge or consent. There cannot be a bigger crime than this.”
Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal.
Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur.
He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More