New Delhi: Trinamool's nominated candidate from Rajya Sabha, Sagarika Ghose took umbrage over 'lewd' comments made on Bengali women in the election poster of Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh whom the BJP has fielded from Asansol for Lok Sabha.
Ghose, who is also a renowned journalist, in a video posted on X slammed the BJP for 'objectifying women from West Bengal. She mentioned that posters of the videos read 'Bengal Wali Maal', a deroghatory term for Bengali girls.
The poster also contains the name and picture of Pawan Singh. "PM @narendramodi arrives in Bengal and holds forth on “nari Shakti”. The next day the @BJP4India fields a candidate from Asansol who is pictured on videos in which Bengali women are referred to as “Bengal wali maal.” Nari shakti, @BJP4India style," she said in the X post.
Soon after the controversy, Pawan Singh withdrew his candidature from Asansol on Sunday, a day after the BJP named him as its candidate from the constituency currently represented by Trinamool Congress's Shatrughan Sinha.
In a post on X, Singh thanked the BJP leadership for his candidature but added that he will not be able to contest from Asansol "due to some reason".
Though he did not specify the reason behind his decision, his candidature had drawn criticism from the TMC, which is in power in West Bengal, which alleged that many of his songs were crude and depicted women, including those from the state, in a vulgar way.
Asansol is home to a sizeable migrant population, and the BJP had hoped that Singh would be an effective counter to Sinha, the actor-politician who was in the saffron party for decades before walking out in 2019.
The BJP apparently decided to nudge Singh to step aside from the contest to defuse the controversy, more so when the party seized on the Sandeshkhali row to go after the TMC leadership.
In her post, Ghose took a dig at the PM Narendra Modi, who was on a two-day visit to the state on Friday and Saturday.
According to her, at a time when the PM Narendra Modi spoke of 'nari shakti' or women empowerment, her own party candidate disrepected women of West Bengal by comparing them to objects.
On Saturday, the BJP released the first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Pawan Singh's name was featured in the list. During his visit, PM Modi spoke volumes on women empowerment in his bid to woo women voters during his rallies in Nadia and Hooghly districts.
Ghose posted four such video posters of Pawan Singh on her X handle. She also posted clippings of BJP candidates' music videos which were sung in Bhojpuri 'disrespecting Bengali women.'
During his visit, Modi pointed out 'misdeeds' of Trinamool leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his associates, who have been accused of gangraping women in Sandeshkhali. Shahjahan was arrested after being on the run for 55 days.
Asansol is home to a sizeable migrant population, and the BJP had hoped that Singh would be an effective counter to Sinha, the actor-politician who was in the saffron party for decades before walking out in 2019.
The BJP apparently decided to nudge Singh to step aside from the contest to defuse the controversy, more so when the party seized on the Sandeshkhali row to go after the TMC leadership.
Read More
TMC announces candidature of Sagarika Ghose, Sushmita Dev, 2 others for RS polls
