Kolkata gangrape: TMC leaders make controversial statements; party distances itself from them
Kolkata (PTI): A day after Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee's controversial remark on the gang rape of a law student, senior party leader and MLA Madan Mitra on Saturday said that the incident would not have happened had the student taken a couple of friends with her or informed people before going there.
"This incident has sent a message to girls that if someone calls you when the college is closed, don't go, nothing good will come of it. If that girl had not gone there, this incident wouldn't have happened," Mitra said.
"If she had informed someone before going or had taken a couple of friends with her, then this wouldn't have happened. The one who committed this dirty deed took advantage of the situation," he said.
On Friday Banerjee said, "If a friend rapes a friend, how can you ensure security? Will the police be there in schools? This was done by students to another student. Who will protect her (victim)?"
The TMC distanced itself from the comments of the two leaders and termed them as their personal statements.
"The remarks made by MP Kalyan Banerjee and MLA Madan Mitra concerning the heinous crime at South Calcutta Law College were made in their personal capacities. The party unequivocally disassociates itself from their statements and strongly condemns the same. These views do not reflect the position of the party in any manner whatsoever," it posted on X.
Immediately, Banerjee, the Serampore MP questioned whether the party was "indirectly supporting" those leaders who were "shielding the criminals".
He also distanced himself from the party's statement.
"I completely disagree with the post made by AITCofficial on X. Are they indirectly supporting the leaders who are shielding these criminals? Mere academic statements won't bring any real change unless immediate action is taken against those leaders directly responsible... I also wish to clearly distance myself from those who are encouraging or protecting these criminals," Banerjee stated on X.
Mitra also took to X, saying that his statements were "misled by a motivated group" to malign him.
"...my statement has been totally misled and misused by a motivated group whose basic intention was to malign the image of our party AITC by wrongly focusing my statement to serve their own purpose," he said.
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Confident we are going to win Kerala: Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday expressed confidence in the victory of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, saying the Congress-led alliance will win more than 75 seats out of the total 140 in the state.
Tharoor, who hails from Kerala, said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls, most of which predicted a victory for the UDF that has been out of power for 10 years in the state.
"We have been on the ground. I have campaigned in 59 constituencies across 12 districts out of 14. I was very confident we are going to win.
"Everything that I have picked up from not just my party colleagues and workers but also from other observers, media and others have always convinced me that we were going to score a comfortable win of above 75 seats. And all the (exit) polls have confirmed the same thing," he told reporters here.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls but in general he was not a big fan of exit polls in India.
"Because ours is not purely a homogenous society. We have to take into account gender issue, caste issue, class issue, regional disparities. You never get a convincingly large enough sample to give an accurate poll and now there is the additional complication that we have heard about in West Bengal this year that many people are unwilling to answer the questions of the pollsters," he said.
The Congress leader said normally, it used to be below 10 per cent that people said that they would not answer.
"Even if you are a reputable exit pollster, in Bengal, one polling company has said 60 per cent of people refused to answer. So, what is the worth of a poll where 60 per cent of your respondents have not answered," he said.
Several exit polls on Wednesday predicted a comeback by the Congress-led UDF in Kerala after 10 years, dethroning the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Polling for the 140-member Kerala assembly was held on April 9. Results of assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry, besides Kerala, will be announced on May 4.
