Sharpening her attack against Governor CV Ananda Bose over the sexual harassment allegations against him, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said she would meet him on the streets if he wants her to, but will not go to Raj Bhavan, because even sitting next to him would be a “sin”.
Referring to Thursday’s screening of CCTV footage from the day a temporary Raj Bhavan employee had lodged a written complaint with the police against the governor, the Trinamool Congress chief alleged it was edited. She said she has the entire footage as well as a pen drive with more videos.
After the allegations had been made, Mr Bose had used Ms Banerjee’s popular name, ‘Didi’, to take a dig at her and say that “Didigiri’“(a play on ‘dadagiri’, which means bullying or bossing around) will not work.
Addressing a rally in Hooghly on Saturday, the chief minister said in a mix of Hindi and Bengali, “Honourable Governor, what is my fault? I don’t even know what the entire incident is. He said ‘Didigiri’ won’t be allowed and I say that is true. ‘Dadagiri’ and ‘Didigiri’ will not be allowed. But governor, you must first step down. Who are you to torture women? I heard he called the press yesterday. Some edited videos were shown. Has he shown you the entire thing?”
“I have a copy. I have received it from a member of the press. The edited copy is also with me. The entire thing has not come out yet. I received another video. A pen drive. More incidents… incidents after incidents,” Ms Banerjee claimed.
Folding her hands for emphasis, she added, “If he calls me to the Raj Bhavan, I will not go. If he calls me to meet him on the streets, I will do that. But, after hearing about the incidents, even sitting next to you is a sin.”
Speaking after the allegations had surfaced, Mr Bose had hit out at Ms Banerjee and accused her of practising “dirty politics”.
“I always took the stand that her politics is not my cup of tea and I refused to comment on that. Now because of the humiliating remarks that have been made against me, I am forced to tell you, Mamata Banerjee’s politics is dirty. Still, I will pray to God to save her, but this is difficult even for God. I will never accept this ‘Didigiri’ on the distinguished office of the Governor,” he had said on Monday.
