"Plight of Bengal women not on her list of priorities": Poonawala hits out at Mamata amid protests over Sandeshkhali

New Delhi [India], February 15 : A day after its state president Sukanta Majumdar slumped unconscious amid a police crackdown on a sit-in he was leading against the alleged sexual abuse and exploitation of women by ruling TMC strongmen at Sandeshlkhali in North 24 Parganas district, the BJP was in no mood to take their foot off the pedal on Thursday as they stepped up their protests across the state.
Even as BJP supporters held demonstrations across the state, refusing to back down on their demand that those behind the alleged excesses on women, including fugitive TMC strongman Sheikh Shahjahan, the party's national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla came out all guns blazing at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, claiming that she was unmoved by the plight of the state's daughters.
"It's unfortunate that despite being a woman chief minister, the plight of Bengal's daughters is not on her list of priorities," Poonawala told ANI.
Also taking a swipe at the Congress, a partner of the TMC in the INDIA bloc, the BJP spokesperson said, "Even the TMC's partner, which is currently leading the 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' and recently camped in Bengal, is indifferent to the security worries of the women here."
Lauding the decision of the BJP's national leadership to send a six-member committee of Union Ministers and MPs to Sandeshkhali and gather facts on the alleged sexual harassment and violence perpetrated on women in Bengal, Poonawalla said, "I welcome the decision of our national president JP Nadda to send a fact-finding team to Sandeshkhali. West Bengal Police is working as the TMC cadre. Mamata Banerjee thinks that she is above the constitution and a law unto herself. She is also unmoved by the gross abuse and violation of women's rights in the state."
Meanwhile, again a scuffle broke out between the police and Bharatiya Janata Party workers during the BJP's protest in West Bengal's Siliguri district on Thursday over the Sandeshkhali incident.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal assembly and BJP leader, Suvendu Adhikari, along with four fellow legislators, was allegedly stopped by the police in Rampur, on the way to Sandeshkhali, citing the imposition of Section 144 in the area.
Remonstrating against the police intervention, Adhikari has staged a sit-in protest in Rampur along with fellow BJP MMLAs.
The Mamata government reimposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in and around 500 metres of area in seven-gram panchayats, including Sandeshkhali, amid the continuing public outcry and escalating protests.
Sector 144 will remain in force in the area till February 19 to maintain law and order in the face of rising protests by the BJP.