The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of orchestrating a "sinister toolkit" campaign aimed at destabilizing the West Bengal government in the wake of public outrage over the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The allegations were made by TMC MP Saket Gokhale, who claimed that the BJP's IT cell was behind a coordinated effort to amplify the demand for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's resignation, a move he suggests is part of a broader strategy to topple the state government.
Gokhale's statements centered on the hashtag '#MamataMustResign', which he claimed was being artificially pushed by the BJP to trend on social media platforms following the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) takeover of the case on August 15. According to Gokhale, this campaign was not a genuine outpouring of public sentiment but rather a carefully managed effort by the BJP's digital machinery. He alleged that over 200,000 posts using the hashtag were generated within four days, reaching more than 91 million users, with nearly 45% of these posts originating from outside India, including countries like the United States, Russia, Nigeria, and Colombia.
The TMC leader further accused the BJP of replacing genuine protesters with its own workers, including members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), to hijack the public demonstrations that initially emerged in response to the trainee doctor's tragic death. Gokhale noted that while there had been widespread protests demanding justice, there were no demonstrations against the CBI's handling of the case, which he found suspicious given the agency's lack of updates since taking charge.
Gokhale also suggested that the CBI was complicit in the BJP's agenda, accusing the investigative agency of remaining silent to enable the BJP to fuel its campaign against the TMC government. He asserted that the TMC would resist these efforts, describing the BJP's actions as part of a broader conspiracy involving the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) to destabilize Bengal. The TMC, he declared, would not allow justice for the victim to be derailed by political machinations.
The controversy stems from the horrific incident on August 9, when the semi-naked body of the trainee doctor, a second-year postgraduate student at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, was discovered in the hospital's seminar hall. The case quickly ignited protests across Kolkata and other parts of India, with demonstrators demanding capital punishment for those responsible and calling for improved security measures for doctors in hospitals. The subsequent arrest of Sanjoy Roy, a civil volunteer with the Kolkata Police, in connection with the crime, did little to quell the public's anger, leading to the CBI's involvement after the Calcutta High Court's intervention.
The BJP has used the incident as a rallying point, demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and accusing her government of failing to ensure the safety of medical professionals. In response, the TMC has pushed back, with Banerjee herself accusing BJP and CPI-M workers of involvement in the vandalism that occurred at RG Kar Medical College during the 'Reclaim the Night' protests on the night of August 14-15. The political fallout from the incident continues to deepen, with both parties locked in a bitter struggle over the narrative surrounding the case.
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