The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and incumbent MP of West Bengal’s Malda Uttar constituency Khagen Murmu got embroiled in a controversy over allegedly kissing a girl while campaigning for Lok Sabha elections.
The incident occurred on April 8 when Murmu did a live Facebook stream while campaigning in Chanchal’s Srihipur village. He kissed a girl as his security personnel looked on. The live was posted by Murmu on his FB page which now stands deleted.
Posting screenshots of the incident on X, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused the BJP MP of sexual harassment.
“If you cannot believe what you just saw, let us clarify. Yes, this is BJP MP & Maldaha Uttar candidate @khagenmurmu kissing a woman on his own accord on his campaign trail. From MPs that sexually harass ween wrestlers to leaders who make obscene songs about Bengali women; the 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,” the party wrote on X.
TMC’s Malda vice president Dulal Sarkar condemned the incident saying this is against “Bengali culture”.
Like my child, says BJP MP
However, Murmu is upbeat and confirms the incident alleging the girl in the video was “like his child”.
Speaking to Hindustan Times Bangla, Murmu alleged TMC of editing the screenshots of the video and playing dirty politics.
“The picture was posted by someone from Trinamool and it is slightly edited. This is the reflection of their dirty mentality. The girl who is being kissed is a child of our family. Daughter of one of our workers, studying nursing in Bangalore. Good results. So I gave her a little care. We do the same to our own children. And both her parents were standing next to her. Even today I am campaigning in that area. No one took it badly. The Trinamool is scrambling for votes,” he was quoted by HT Bangla.
The BJP candidate added that he plans to lodge a complaint against the ruling party for spreading misleading information. “There is nothing wrong with kissing a child. This is a complete grassroots conspiracy. They have such bad values. Parties and individuals are being defamed by distorting such pictures,” he added.
