Police to Speak to Witnesses in Woman's Complaint against Bengal Guv; Opp Asks TMC's Connections

Amid the ongoing row of sexual harassment complaints against Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, the opposition parties, including the BJP and CPI (M), raised a question about the woman's connection with the state ruling party. The opposition also confirmed that the accuser's mother had contested as a TMC candidate in a local election in the East Midnapore District in 2002.

Kolkata: The Kolkata Police inquiry team constituted to investigate a woman employee's allegation of sexual molestation by Governor CV Ananda Bose, will speak to the witnesses over the next few days, a senior officer said on Saturday. The investigators, she said have already requested the Raj Bhavan to share the CCTV footage.

"We have formed an inquiry team which will be speaking to some probable witnesses over the next few days in this matter. We have also requested the Raj Bhavan to share the CCTV footage, in case they are available," the officer said on Saturday.

A contractual woman employee of the Raj Bhavan on Friday lodged a written complaint with the Kolkata Police alleging sexual molestation by the Bengal Governor in the Raj Bhavan.

Under Article 361 of the Constitution, no criminal proceedings can be instituted against a governor during his term in office. Incidentally, the Raj Bhavan has issued a statement saying that Bose has ordered a ban on the entry of cops to the Raj Bhavan "in the guise of conducting unauthorised, illegitimate, sham and motivated investigations to placate political bosses during the election".

On the other hand, Trinamool Congress highlighting the sexual harassment complaint against West Bengal Governor, CV Ananda Bose, by a temporary staff member of Raj Bhavan in Kolkata, the Opposition parties including the BJP and CPI(M) have started questioning the links of the woman to the ruling party.

The Opposition is pointing to an event where the mother of the accuser had contested as a Trinamool Congress candidate in a local election in the East Midnapore District of West Bengal in 2002. East Midnapore is the native district of the woman who filed the police complaint of sexual harassment against Governor Bose on Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, Governor Bose has described the allegation as an “engineered narrative” coined to gain electoral benefits. The fact of the accuser’s mother contesting as a Trinamool Congress candidate in 2002 was revealed to the media by veteran CPI(M) District Secretary in East Midnapore, Niranjan Sihi.

"I remember everything. To me this is a ploy to divert attention from other burning issues in the state like the Sandeshkhali development and the loss of school jobs," he said. The BJP’s former National Vice President, Dilip Ghosh, had described the entire development as a "scripted" strategy on the part of the ruling party.

"This kind of dirty politics will result in the downfall of the ruling party. But one thing is clear. When the ruling party can target someone in this position and that too in such a manner, the condition of the ordinary public is well-imaginable," Ghosh said. On Friday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a public meeting questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" in the matter.

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