‘We are stunned, senior BJP leader molested 3-year-old girl’

Kolkata: Following the shocking molestation of a 3-year-old minor in Nadia’s Shantipur by a 70-year-old BJP leader, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday launched a sharp attack on the BJP for remaining silent over a heinous crime committed by one of its leaders.

According to news reports, a day earlier, the accused, a BJP booth president, allegedly lured the minor girl by offering her chocolates and molested her before leaving her in severe distress, Trinamool Congress claimed. “We are stunned to see such a thing. A 3-year-old minor girl was molested in Shantipur’s Haripur area. Who did it? It was a BJP booth president! Our heads go down in shame. On the other hand, we get to hear tall claims by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister about ‘nari suraksha’. On what grounds is Suvendu Adhikari out on the streets? We demand exemplary punishment for the culprit,” Trinamool Congress’s national spokesperson Shashi Panja said.

Taking to X, Trinamool’s women wing president Chandrima Bhattacharya wrote, “Manoranjan Halder, @BJP4Bengal booth president, is accused of molesting a 3-year-old girl in Nadia! Is this the ‘morality’ BJP and PM @narendramodi boasts about? We demand action, not silence!”

Launching a scathing attack on the BJP, Trinamool Congress’ Nadia district president Debasis Ganguly said: “We are stunned to witness such a shameful incident. A senior BJP leader has molested a 3-year-old minor girl. The accused, Manorajan Halder, is the current BJP booth president of the area and even his son is a BJP leader, who contested the last panchayat polls on a BJP ticket. Despite this, none of the BJP leaders have spoken about it.”