Siliguri, Sept. 8: Members of the Bihari community here today demonstrated to protest against an alleged remark by Congress MP Deepa Das Munshi during an election rally. They also demanded her resignation from Parliament.
The Uttarbanga Hindi Bhasi Samaj held rallies in Wards 4,5,7,8 and 9 of Siliguri and blocked Burdwan Road for over an hour, which was withdrawn at 1pm.
On Sunday, Deepa had allegedly said at a rally here that criminals from Bihar were creating violence in Siliguri in the run-up to the municipal corporation election scheduled for September 13. She asked the administration to take measures against them. But neither the MP nor her party had lodged a police complaint.
The Samaj members criticised the Congress MP for her comments. “It is unfortunate that being a responsible Member of Parliament she has hurt the sentiments of a community. As she has a political identity, she has every right to criticise her opponents, but insulting a community cannot be acceptable,” said Sanjay Tibrewal, the president of the organisation. “Without knowing the present political situation, she has commented in an irresponsible manner and we have demanded her resignation from Parliament and an unconditional apology.”
Shankar Malakar, the president of the Darjeeling district Congress, accused the CPM for making it an issue. “The CPM is raising baseless allegations to confuse voters before the poll which is not unexpected. The party has done it before and is doing again apprehending the defeat,” he said.
The BJP also demanded an apology from the MP. “She has commented like a novice and insulted a community with her irresponsible remarks. If she does not apologise, we will demonstrate against her in Delhi,” Dilip Jaiswal, a BJP MLA of Bihar, said here.