No cover-up by West Bengal government: Mahua Moitra slams BJP for calling TMC women MPs "Gungi gudiya"

Response to allegations of a cover-up in the RG Kar Hospital case by TMC MP Mahua Moitra.

Amid ongoing protests over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar hospital in Kolkata, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday (August 15, 2024) denied allegations of a cover-up in the case, stating that the opposition BJP are accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and elected women representatives of being “Gungi gudiya” (mute dolls) is “absolutely wrong and incorrect.”

“The story that is going around that the state government and most of all, the Chief Minister and all of us who are elected representatives are indulging in some kind of systematic cover-up is absolutely wrong and incorrect. The Chief Minister was in Jhargram Medinipur when the incident happened. When she was informed about it, she spoke to the family of the girl immediately. Upon her return to Kolkata, she went and visited them within 12 hours the police arrested the prime suspect on the basis of CCTV evidence,” Ms. Moitra said.

Ms. Moitra added that Mamata Banerjee, the only female Chief Minister in India, has always stood for women’s causes, and there is no cover-up. She criticised the political narrative that TMC representatives are “Gungi gudiya” (mute dolls). ”There is no cover-up. Mamata Banerjee is India’s only lady Chief Minister and has always stood for women’s causes. To somehow put a political leaning to this and say that all of us are Gungi gudiya (mute dolls) is some kind of political narrative that we had to face before and that we are going to fight back again,” Ms. Moitra added.

Ms. Moitra’s response comes after Union Minister and West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar said that not a single woman MP from TMC has spoken about the murder and rape of the doctor in Kolkata, adding despite being an alumni of the same medical college, two TMC MPs and three MLAs have been maintaining silence indicating that “something is amiss”.

He also alleged that a particular TMC MP’s nephew’s name keeps coming up repeatedly in this case. “In the doctor’s team, many such topics have come up in their WhatsApp group, and some screenshots of this have also reached us like drugs, racket, sex racket... One TMC MP’s nephew’s name keeps coming up repeatedly. I don’t know what the truth is, but something seems off because despite so many women MPs from TMC, not a single one has spoken much after such a major incident. Two TMC MPs and three MLAs are alumni of the same medical college, yet they seem to have been silenced, indicating that something is amiss,” Mr. Majumdar said.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari (BJP) wrote to the Home Secretary and Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), requesting deployment of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces to prevent further destruction of evidence at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. “I have written to the Hon’ble Home Secretary; Ministry of Home Affairs; Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Hon’ble Director, regarding the vandalism that took place at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and requested them to deploy Central Armed Paramilitary Forces to prevent further destruction of evidence at RG Kar,” Mr. Adhikari said in a post on X.

Mr. Adhikari’s request follows the vandalism at the hospital on Wednesday (August 14, 2024) night, where a mob caused damage to the protest site, vehicles, and public property. Security officials intervened to disperse the crowd. Meanwhile, the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) on Thursday (August 15, 2024) announced that they have decided to resume its strike to protest the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata.