The BJP, led by the leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, will organise the Nari Samman Yatra — a march to protect women's dignity — in Anubrata Mondal's hometown of Birbhum's Bolpur on June 9 to protest against the Trinamool leader's alleged verbal abuse targeting the wife and mother of Liton Halder, the inspector-in-charge of the local police station.
"On June 9, we will organise the Nari Samman Yatra in Bolpur town. I will be present there. People will witness how Bolpur protests the abuse of the IC’s wife and mother," said Adhikari.
The BJP plans to escalate the issue of Mondal’s alleged attack on a police officer’s family members using unacceptable language, highlighting what they claim is the Trinamool leaders’ disrespectful treatment of women.
Hitting the streets in Bolpur — the home turf of TMC strongman Mondal — is seen as a major BJP initiative to create discomfort in Birbhum, a TMC stronghold where the ruling party won 10 out of 11 Assembly seats in 2021.
A senior BJP leader said they would also organise programmes across the state, including in Nadia's Kaliganj — where a bypoll is scheduled on June 19 — to protest against Mondal's comments and express solidarity with women.
Mondal sparked controversy when a phone call he made to Halder on May 28 was widely circulated on social media the next day. In the call, the Trinamool leader allegedly used abusive language against Halder and his family members, embarrassing both the party and the government.
Police have lodged a case against him under four sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, two of which are non-bailable.
After evading two consecutive summons, Anubrata finally faced police interrogation on Thursday — seven days after allegedly abusing the Bolpur IC. However, police did not seize his mobile phone, and he reportedly claimed he could not "recollect" whether he had abused the officer.
"Everything is happening under the instruction of Mamata Banerjee. I had earlier said that nothing would happen to Anubrata, and the IC will be framed and eventually suspended. Anubrata has been spared. The IC’s phones have been seized, and departmental proceedings have been initiated against him. I can say with confidence that he will be suspended too," said Adhikari.
TMC leaders, however, dismissed the BJP’s planned Bolpur march, saying the party was trying to politicise the issue and that it would not have any impact.
"The party, at all levels, condemned what Anubrata Mondal did. He was asked to apologise for his actions. You can’t show a single instance where the BJP has taken action against its leaders for insulting women or demanded they apologise," said TMC leader Kunal Ghosh.
Responding to Adhikari's call for Nari Samman Yatra on Anubrata's turf, CPM leader Md Salim advised the BJP leader to start it from Hardwar in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand.
"He should have started the yatra from Hardwar. You have heard about the gruesome incident that a former leader of the Mohila Morcha allowed to be perpetrated on her minor daughter...They gave the slogan of Beti bnachao, beti padhao, but now girls need to be saved from BJP leaders," Salim said.
The CPM politburo member was referring to the alleged incident of a BJP leader allowing her boyfriend and his aide to rape her 13-year-old daughter in Hardwar. The Uttarakhand police have arrested the two for the incident that has raised an outcry against the BJP leader, who once headed the Hardwar unit of the party's Mohila Morcha.