The BJP on Monday organised a massive march in Bolpur to protest against Anubrata Mondal’s alleged abuse of the local inspector-in-charge and his family members and made it clear that the party would stay on the streets until the foul-mouthed Trinamul Congress leader was arrested.
The leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, led the 1km-long Nari Samman Yatra.
“Today’s protest in Bolpur is only a trailer. The real show will be in Suri and Rampurhat (two other subdivisional towns in Birbhum district). We will meet again in Suri on June 19,” Adhikari told around 10,000 BJP workers.
“I want to make it clear that the party will continue the Nari Samman Yatra until Kesto (Mondal’s nickname) is arrested,” the Nandigram MLA told reporters after the march.
BJP sources said the issue had become a significant weapon for the party ahead of next year’s Assembly polls. Mondal allegedly used unacceptable language against the Bolpur inspector-in-charge's wife and mother.
As women form a strong vote bank of Trinamool, the BJP plans to escalate the Mondal issue ahead of the elections, in an attempt to break Mamata Banerjee’s dominance over the state’s female voters.
“By launching the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, the chief minister gained a grip over women voters, particularly in rural areas. However, the language used by Anubrata Mondal against the wife and mother of the police officer is unacceptable. So, it is the BJP’s task to reach out to people and expose the Birbhum leader’s disrespect toward women,” said a senior BJP leader.
The BJP has been trying its best to make inroads into Trinamool’s women vote bank since 2021 when Mamata came to power for the third term. The party left no stone unturned to highlight the alleged torture of women in Sandeshkhali, North 24-Parganas, ahead of the 2024 general election.
However, the election results were disappointing, with the BJP winning only 12 Lok Sabha seats — six fewer than in 2019.
Still, a BJP leader said the party understood that to win Bengal, it must split the women’s vote, especially those of Hindus. "That’s why Birbhum BJP leaders were clearly instructed to bring as many women party workers and supporters as possible to the Nari Samman Yatra."
Apart from the Nari Samman Yatra, Adhikari said the party would soon launch the Hindu OBC Adhikar Yatra to promote a new narrative: the Mamata Banerjee government has deprived Hindu Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in favour of Muslim communities.
Asish Banerjee, the chairperson of the TMC’s Birbhum core committee and the deputy Speaker of the Bengal Assembly, dismissed the BJP’s efforts.
“Let the BJP try whatever it wants. The BJP will not win the trust of Bengal’s people because they stand with Mamata Banerjee,” he said.
During his 37-minute speech, Adhikari highlighted how Mondal remained close to Mamata, although he had been arrested in a multi-crore cattle smuggling case and had spent two years in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
Adhikari alleged that Mondal would be spared as he funded the TMC with money extorted from various sectors, including sand and black stone smuggling.
“You (people) have to say goodbye to the Trinamool Congress. Only then will we reopen the case (abusing IC Bolpur) and ensure jail for Anubrata, who not only disrespected the wife and mother of a police officer but attacked the dignity of all women, whom we respect,” said Adhiakri, who was flanked by state BJP general secretary Jagannath Chattopadhyay and Birbhum party leaders.
Senior TMC leaders such as MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and minister Shashi Panja strongly condemned Adhikari for remarks that they said attacked the dignity of countless women across the state.
“Yesterday, Suvendu Adhikari spoke about Lakshmir Bhandar and said women shouldn’t sell their sindoor and bangles for ₹500–1000. Lakshmir Bhandar is a universal scheme — for every woman in Bengal — unlike the exclusionary schemes in BJP-ruled states,” said Panja.
“During the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, BJP leaders claimed that Lakshmir Bhandar would be scrapped if they came to power. Now, they are putting a price tag on women’s sindoor and bangles. We never set a price, because we cannot humiliate mothers and sisters like they do,” she added.