A Bengal BJP state committee member triggered a political storm after asking husbands to lock up beneficiaries of the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme on polling day to prevent them from voting for the Trinamool Congress.
The remark drew sharp reactions from Trinamool, which accused the BJP of exposing its “anti-woman” and “anti-Bengal” mindset.
The comment was made on Saturday by Kalipada Sengupta of West Midnapore at a public meeting of the BJP at Kalaikunda ground in Daspur.
Sengupta said: “Many women who get Lakshmir Bhandar will vote for the BJP. But there are still many women who get Lakshmir Bhandar and will vote for Trinamool. I urge the husbands to keep those women locked up in their homes. They should vote for poddophul (lotus), not joraphul (twin flowers).”
The statement, which seemed to reflect the BJP’s concern over the popularity of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s flagship financial aid scheme for women, also provoked widespread outrage.
In a post on X on Sunday, Trinamool national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP of deploying a “Bangla-Birodhi toolkit”.
He wrote: “After failing to delete voters’ names during the Special Intensive Revision, they have sunk to feudal and patriarchal barbarism by urging husbands to lock up their wives at home so women empowered by Lakshmir Bhandar can’t step out to vote.”
Abhishek alleged that the BJP had earlier threatened to scrap Lakshmir Bhandar if it came to power and derided direct financial aid to women as “bhikkha (alms)".
“And now they openly threaten women’s hard-won suffrage because their votes endanger BJP’s pathetic electoral chances?” he wrote. “In 2026, women will march to the polling booths in millions and bury your regressive, Bangla-Birodhi, Nari-Birodhi politics. "Trinamool spokesperson Arup Chakraborty said the remark endorsed "domestic violence for political ends".
“Asking men to lock up women family members so that they cannot vote for Mamata Banerjee is not just anti-woman or anti-Bengal, it is a threat to women’s safety at home," he said.
Industry minister Shashi Panja said Sengupta's comment underlined the BJP’s overall anti-women stance.
“They don’t want anything good to happen to women,” she said. “Earlier, in Cooch Behar, a woman leader of the BJP said the party wanted to stop Lakshmir Bhandar. Kalipada Sengupta has gone a step further by ordering husbands of Lakshmir Bhandar beneficiaries to lock them indoors so they cannot step out and vote for the AITC. In the name of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, they are actually safeguarding rapists. In BJP-ruled states, women are tortured and discriminated against," she added.
The Bengal BJP sought to distance itself from Sengupta’s remarks. Jagannath Chattopadhyay, one of their state general secretaries, said the remark was “unwarranted” and the party did not endorse “any illogical and patriarchal statement”.
“The BJP will continue all ongoing beneficial schemes if it comes to power in Bengal, along with those announced in the poll manifesto. The issue of schemes like Lakshmir Bhandar has been amply clarified by (Union home minister) Amit Shah,” he said.
Junior Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said: “If the BJP comes to power, Lakshmir Bhandar will continue. The name may change. That will be decided later. But we will give more money than what Trinamool is offering.”