The Bharatiya Janata Party has knocked the doors of the Election Commission seeking action against Trinamool Congress candidate Sujata Mondal, who has allegedly described Scheduled Caste voters as “beggars by nature” in a video clip which has now gone viral in the poll-bound state.
A delegation led by Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi met the Chief Election Commissioner on Sunday afternoon and demanded necessary action against Mondal and her party under the provisions of the electoral laws, the Indian Penal Code, the SC/ST Act and the Model Code of Conduct.
The visiting delegation consisting of several Dalit MPs such as Dushyant Gautam, Hansraj Hans, Bhola Singh and Sunita Duggal also submitted a formal complaint.
According to the BJP’s petition, TMC candidate Sujata Mondal said that the state’s SC voters were moving towards the BJP camp despite all the work Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had done for them because they were “beggars by nature”.
“Even though Mamata Banerjee has helped the poor Scheduled Castes, their scarcity will never mitigate. There is a saying that some are beggars by nature while others are beggars by circumstance,” the petition quotes Mondal.
Addressing mediapersons outside the EC headquarters, Naqvi said, “TMC›s thinking about Dalit and marginalised sections has now been exposed. An official candidate of TMC has made derogatory remarks against the SC community, saying the party did everything for them but for some monetary gains, they have now shifted to BJP. This is a criminal offense therefore we have demanded strict action to be taken against this candidate.”
The row began when Mondal made that statement in an interview with a news channel. The BJP shared a video clip of Mondal on Saturday on its official Twitter account in which the TMC candidate can be heard saying, “In Bengal, the Scheduled Caste people are beggars by nature. Even after everything Mamata Banerjee did for them, they are going after the little money that BJP is offering them. They are selling their votes to the saffron party.”
Earlier, Prashant Kishore, the chief strategist working to ensure TMC’s win in the Bengal polls, also admitted in a Clubhouse discussion that 27% of state’s SC population is supporting the BJP in the upcoming polls, implying that it shows how the BJP has emerged as formidable alternative to TMC in the state.
Meanwhile Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday challenged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to expel Trinamool Congress candidate Sujata Mondal who termed Dalits “beggars by nature”.
Speaking at an election rally at Basirhat Dakshin Assembly constituency of North Twenty Four Parganas district, Shah said, “Some days ago, a leader of Trinamool Congress has made a comment on the people of Dalit community and said that they are beggars by nature, look at this Didi what are they (TMC candidate) saying?”
“This Matua, Namasudra and the Rajvanshi community who are living here with pride, you (TMC) are calling them beggars and insulting them, if you have any shame left then expel your leader who had made this comment, but I know… you will not be able to do it, that is why, I am here to tell Didi that you are against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) because these Matua, Namasudra, and refugees will now be going to get citizenship here,” he added.
The Home Minister said that Mamata Banerjee is scared that if refugees of scheduled caste and other communities are given citizenship here, then those infiltrators will get annoyed.