PANAJI
Ill-treating and sidelining women is a part of the mental make-up of the RSS, which is a fountainhead of the BJP, said TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien on Wednesday while reacting to the controversy surrounding the defacement of photographs of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on hoardings and banners.
When asked to react to accusations made by the BJP over a cartoon insulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, O’Brien insisted that Goa TMC was not responsible for the cartoon, but added that it had been withdrawn soon after. He, however, refused to apologise on behalf of his party for the gaffe, as demanded by the ruling BJP.
“You have been seeing what is happening to all the promotional material featuring India's only woman chief minister. We all know, this is certainly not the culture of Goa. We all know this kind of undignified obnoxious behaviour is not only being done by the BJP, but they are proud of it, they are endorsing it,” O’Brien told a press conference in Panaji.
“Why are they scared of TMC? We cannot imagine what is happening. Let the people of Goa see for themselves, but then we are not surprised. A former RSS chief said that women should be staying at home and doing the cooking. RSS is the fountainhead of the start of the BJP. Are women allowed in an RSS shakha? no, they are not. This is the situation,” he added.
The controversy erupted in Goa soon after TMC posters were torn and removed from hoardings ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the coastal state.
A few days later a cartoon of a chappal-wearing Mamata Banerjee about to stamp Modi, Shah and Sawant also went viral, enraging the BJP, which has demanded an apology from the TMC, failing which BJP spokesperson Urfan Mulla warned of “disturbance” during Banerjee’s visit to Goa on October 28.
Over the last few days, hoardings and banners put up by the TMC with Banerjee’s face on it were defaced in several parts of Goa.
O’Brien said that by defacing the hoardings, local businessmen who run outdoor advertising companies were hurt financially by the BJP.
“If you look at the contract, the hoarding contractor is a local contractor, a businessman from Goa. You are hurting the businesses of Goa because those who have signed the contract with us, it is their liability for any damage to the hoarding,” O’Brien said.
When asked to respond to the demand made by the BJP for an apology for the controversial cartoon, O’Brien said: “We are not perfect. If something went up for a few minutes and it was removed. It was not from the Goa TMC. You have the grace to remove it within minutes, you have to have the dignity and the grace to say you are not perfect. Only Modi and Amit Shah are perfect, we all have our imperfections. We don't say we are perfect. Will the BJP repair all the hoardings now?”
“Take us on politically. We fought the communists for 34 years. Respond to the chargesheet, we have given a people's chargesheet with nine points. Respond to that chargesheet. Tell us how many young Goans are unemployed, tell us whether people living in this state can buy a home in this state, tell us all these points, rather than indulging in such boorish behaviour”.
