Bengal BJP MP kisses women during poll campaign causing controversy

Kolkata: In West Bengal, BJP MP Khagen Murmu struck up a controversy after a video of his polls campaign surfaced on social media in which he was seen kissing a woman on her cheeks. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the state shared the video and accused BJP of being anti-women, NDTV reported.

TMC posted on X, "If you cannot believe what you just saw, let us clarify. Yes, this is BJP MP & Maldaha Uttar candidate @khagen_murmu kissing a woman on his own accord on his campaign trail."

The woman, however, referred to the incident as an "act of affection" while speaking to a local TV channel.

However, the women featured in the video clip called the incident as an act of affection. Speaking to a local TV channel, she asked what the issue was with the incident where a person her father's age showed affection towards her and kissed her cheeks. She wondered why people have such a dirty mindset, stating that there was nothing wrong with the BJP MP's act.

Murumu, the BJP MP who was a former CPM MLA and joined the saffron party in 2019, said that the woman is like" his child". The incident occurred on Monday when he was in the Maldaha Uttar constituency.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led TMC also called BJP politicians as anti-human.

The party said that BJP is from MPs that sexually harass women wrestlers to leaders who make obscene songs about Bengali women.

"BJP camp has no dearth of anti-women politicians. This is how Modi Ka Parivar engages in Nari Ka Samman! Imagine what they would do if they came to power," TMC wrote on X.

The TMC was referring to former wrestling body chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, also a BJP MP, who was accused of sexual assault by women wrestlers, and Pawan Singh, a former BJP candidate from Asansol who quit the contest after his songs were criticized for allegedly having objectionable references to Bengali women.