Kolkata: The political temperature is soaring over the controversy surrounding the 'Sandeshkhali sting video' that has snowballed into flashpoint between the BJP and the TMC with the ruling party lodging a complaint with the Election Commission against BJP's Suvendu Adhikari and others on Thursday.
TMC said the confession of a saffron party leader on camera that the rape accusations in the Sandeshkhali incident were concocted exposed the BJP's agenda. Party sources said their complaint is based on a purported video in which a man claiming to be Gangadhar Kayal -- BJP mandal president in Sandeshkhali -- was heard saying that Adhikari, the leader of opposition in the West Bengal assembly, was 'behind the whole conspiracy.
'In the "sting operation" video done by a news platform which was later shared by the TMC on X, Kayal is heard saying sexual harassment complaints were filed at the behest of Adhikari. West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, meanwhile, alleged that the "sting operation" was "fake", and suspected that it was made using artificial intelligence (AI).
Majumdar also questioned the timing of the video's release, claiming that the TMC will use it to give a clean chit to its suspended leader Shajahan Sheikh. "This video was brought to the forefront by the TMC only to suppress the truth of Sandeshkhali. Why was the sting operation conducted at the time when the election was underway? But, it'll not be that easy to fool the people of West Bengal. They are politically mature enough to understand why the video was published at this time," he has said.
The TMC on Saturday shared the viral video on social media, in which a man claiming to be BJP mandal president was heard saying that the leader of the opposition "Suvendu Adhikari was behind the whole conspiracy". Majumdar said the video was "fake", and suspected that artificial intelligence (AI) was used in making it.(With agency inputs)
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