Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay should focus on maintaining law in West Bengal: Rupa Ganguly

Kolkata: Reiterating her earlier remark on the safety of women in West Bengal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rupa Ganguly on Friday hit back at state Power Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay and said that he should concentrate on improving law and order in the state.

"It is not about what happened with us and what we have been through. We are not here to discuss about it. We have joined politics to show the leaders of Bengal the real situation in the state, which they are not able to control. He needs not to know about it. I am very strong to handle any situation," Ganguly told ANI.

Ganguly said the leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Communist Party of India (Marxist)(CPIM) have destroyed West Bengal and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is there to fight against them.

"Probably, he was not told or probably he did not see the complete thing that I have said, that is why he gave such a remark. It is not for the people living in Bengal, I am talking about the one coming from outside. People saying such good words about Mamata Banerjee should come and see the situation over here," she said.

She said that the present situation in Bengal for women is unsafe, adding that people start stalking them and begin to harass them.

"He is a very senior person and is very much respected in his region, but he cannot deny the fact. This is the truth that if the veteran leaders of Bengal, be it from TMC or CPI (M), would have been able to handle Bengal properly then it was not needed for people like us belonging from cultural background to enter into politics," she said.

Further highlighting the poor law and order situation in the state, she said that the West Bengal Police is spineless and acts on the instruction given by ministers, who don't work properly.

"It hurts me to say that this is the real condition of Bengal. Sobhandeb is in ruling party that doesn't mean that only he is Bengali. This is our state, we are born here. It is not that only he is feeling bad about it. I am feeling more sad saying this thing. We are embarrassed that we are using such words. He should just stop such incidents, should just direct Police to take action and we will stop making such comments," she said.

Chattopadhyay earlier made a controversial statement when he asked Ganguly to reveal the number of times she had been raped in West Bengal before portraying a negative picture about the state.

Chattopadhyay's statement came after Ganguly dared those flattering Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Congress Party to send their wives and daughters to Bengal to live for 15 days and survive without getting raped.

"First of all, she should say how many times she has been raped in Bengal. Before accusing anything or anyone, she should reveal this. Then only the truth behind her statement will be realized," he told ANI.

Chattopadhyay said a sane person cannot use such a language about her own state.

"Politics will be there, but over and above everything, Bengal is our motherland. If she wants to get some political mileage, she can say all this rubbish, but I don't think the people of the region will accept this language, because ultimately it is an insult of the people," he said.

Earlier in the day, Ganguly said if women are able to survive in Bengal for 15 days without getting raped, then she would take back her statement.

"I dare all the parties, the ones who keep flattering the West Bengal Government and the Congress, to send their daughters, sisters-in-law, wives to Bengal, without taking any hospitality from Mamata Banerjee. If they are able to survive there for 15 days without getting raped then tell me," Ganguly told ANI.

West Bengal seems to have become the centre of chaos and violence, with demand of a separate Gorkhaland by the Gorkhas, giving rise to Darjeeling unrest, and the recent Basirhat violence, where communal clashes broke over a social media post.