Country is seeing what TMC has done with sisters of Sandeshkhali: PM Modi

Hooghly (West Bengal): Taking on the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal over the Sandeshkhali issue ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the country is enraged over the treatment of the women in Sandeshkhali by the TMC government.

The Prime Minister was addressing a public gathering in the Khunkul area of West Bengal's Hooghly district.

"The country is seeing what TMC has done with the sisters of Sandeshkhali. The whole country is enraged. The soul of Raja Ram Mohan Roy (social reformer) must have been pained by what happened in Sandeshkhali," he said.

Without mentioning the name of TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan, who has been accused of sexually assaulting and land grabbing by women in Sandeshkhali, PM said, "A TMC leader crossed all limits...The BJP leaders in the state fought for the respect and dignity of the women here.

Yesterday, the police had to arrest him (TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan)."

Further attacking leaders of the INDIA bloc, PM Modi said the leaders of INDIA alliance have been remaining tight-lipped on the Sandeshkhali issue.

He criticized the indifference of INDI alliance leaders, likening them to Gandhiji's three monkeys.

.All the tall leaders of INDI alliance were silent on the Sandeshkhali incident. INDI alliance leaders were like the three monkeys of Gandhiji...Congress chief said- 'Arey chhoddo, Bengal mein toh yeh sab chalta rheta hai'..." he said.

PM Modi urged people to reply to the ruling party of West Bengal by vote to every pain they have suffered while asking chief minister Mamata Banerjee whether the women of Sandeshkhali hold any importance to the TMC chief.

"'Har chot ka jawab vote se dena hai'. Today, the people of West Bengal are asking their CM 'Didi'- is the vote of some people more important than atrocities against women in Sandeshkhali?..

The PM further stressed that it is the guarantee of the Modi government that the ones who are looting the public will have to return every penny of it.

"Should I let the loot by TMC continue?...Meri guarantee hai ki jo lootne wale hain unko lautana padega. TMC government is the big hurdle in the empowerment of poor, farmers, youth and women," he said.

Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district had been witnessing widespread protests against Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman Shahjahan Sheikh this month as a section of women were seeking justice against alleged atrocities committed by the TMC leader.

A large number of women in Sandeshkhali had accused Shajahan Sheikh and his close aides of "land-grab and sexual assault" under coercion.
Shahjahan was arrested by West Bengal police on Thursday morning in connection with an alleged assault on ED officers during a raid in January earlier this year.

West Bengal's Basirhat Court remanded Trinamool Congress (TMC) Sheikh Shahjahan to 10-day police custody on Thursday.