As the Opposition demanded the resignation of Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh, following surfacing of a video of women being assaulted by the mob, the BJP shot back questioning the atrocities against women in non-BJP states like West Bengal, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
The horrific incident in Manipur sparked off outrage across the country, while the parliament was disrupted over Opposition parties' demand that the government hold a discussion over the spate of violence and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement inside the house. The matter is expected to escalate in the coming days as the Opposition is likely to continue with its protests.
The BJP is not likely to give in to the demands of seeking Biren Singh’s resignation. The party has maintained that the situation in Manipur is a legacy issue, and their government inherited the problem from the previous Congress government. The BJP-led government maintains that sacking Biren Singh will not solve the issue, instead, the focus is on maintaining law and order in the state. The state government has already started cracking down on the accused responsible for the assault and alleged gangrape of the two Kuki women.
The BJP reminded the Opposition that similar incidents had taken place in West Bengal and Rajasthan and there has been no action or outrage. It questioned the selective outrage and deteriorating law and order situation in the Opposition-ruled states.
The party held two back-to-back press conferences on similar incidents in Bengal and Rajasthan. BJP MP Locket Chatterjee broke down while narrating the incident in Rajasthan, when the woman party candidate was stripped and paraded naked.
“We are also women. We want to save women. We are also daughters of the country as are Manipur women. Our daughters should be saved,” Chatterjee said referring to the attack on women in the state, particularly during the recently concluded Panchayat election. Chatterjee said there was no video of Bengal incident as people there had guns. She questioned the silence of even senior Congress leaders over incidents in the state as TMC and Congress have come together. Despite the state being run by a woman CM, there was no check on violence (against women), she added.
Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat said that Congress-ruled Rajasthan faced the highest number of atrocities against women. "The state has become unsafe for women." He along with party general secretary Arun Singh cited incidents of recent rape of a dalit girl, murder of a family, to highlight the law and order situation in the state.
The BJP is aggressively taking on the Opposition over the latter’s track record in tackling crime against women in their states, thus indicating it won’t like to be pushed on a back foot over the situation in Manipur.
