Kamal Ghorui
KOLKATA: The mother of the trainee doctor raped and murdered at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital in 2024 has sparked a sharp political controversy as a BJP candidate after a purported campaign video surfaced in which she is heard threatening to throw Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee into “the gutter and thrash her”. TMC has filed a complaint with Election Commission.“Just as my daughter was beaten to death after being dragged by her hair, I will grab her (CM) by her hair and spin her around. If I meet the CM, I will either put her in jail or throw her into the gutter and thrash her,” the BJP’s Panihati candidate is heard saying in the purported clip from an interaction in the north Kolkata suburb of Sodepur late Saturday evening.Earlier, in the same interaction, the mother said she was “primarily fighting against the CM, who is responsible for my daughter’s death at a govt hospital”, adding her daughter had been murdered for raising her voice against corruption in state-run medical colleges.She also accused Nirmal Ghosh, the current Panihati TMC MLA, of attempting to destroy evidence in her daughter’s case. She alleged that Tirthankar, Nirmal’s son and her TMC rival, had been fielded to “cover up the crime”.TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee wrote to chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, calling the remarks a “serious threat to democratic values and public decorum” and warning that they risked vitiating the electoral atmosphere. The party sought prompt legal and disciplinary action.BJP has not responded to the controversy. The candidate’s husband said they were unaware of any formal complaint and described the remarks as being made “in a moment of intense anger”.
