"Woman Card": BJP's Dilip Ghosh Amid Row Over Remarks On Mamata Banerjee

Amid the row over his offensive remark against Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, BJP MP Dilip Ghosh today launched a counterstrike on Ms Banerjee's nephew Abhishek and questioned his comments on BJP's Suvendu Adhikari and his family.

"Just because Suvendu Adhikari is a man, he and his father [former MP and Union Minister Sisir Adhikari] don't have any respect? A woman card is being used frequently," he told the media.

Mr Ghosh has come under fire for his remarks on Ms Banerjee on the campaign trail for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. "Didi goes to Goa and says, 'I am Goa's daughter', then goes to Tripura and says, 'I am Tripura's daughter'. Decide who your father is. It is not good to be just anybody's daughter," he said.

The Trinamool came out strongly against the video and said Mr Ghosh's remarks show he has "zero respect" for women. Party leaders also said his remarks reflect frustration over being moved from the Medinipur seat, which he currently represents, to Bardhaman Durgapur.

The comments left the BJP red-faced and provided fodder to the Opposition at a time when the BJP was trying to corner the Congress over offensive social media posts from the profile of its spokesperson Supriya Shrinate.

Ms Shrinate has said the derogatory posts on BJP candidate and actor Kangana Ranaut were made without her knowledge.

Hours after Trinamool launched an attack on the BJP over Mr Ghosh's remarks, the party leadership demanded an explanation from him.

Mr Ghosh has said he will respond to the party's questions. "This is not the first time a controversy has erupted over my remarks. I have no personal enmity with the Chief Minister. I have only questioned the political remarks she has made to mislead people. A lot of people have problems with my language and usage of words. My party has also pointed it out. Many have said it is unparliamentary. If that is the case, I regret it."

"But I have a question. A leader from her party, her family, has said worse things about the leader of BJP's legislative party (Suvendu Adhikari) and his father. Don't they have any respect? His father is a senior politician in Bengal. The Trinamool did not protest then. Why didn't they issue a statement? I have made a political statement," he said, without naming Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool's national general secretary.

Mr Banerjee has, in the past, launched scathing attacks on Suvendu Adhikari, calling him a "traitor" after he left the Trinamool and joined the BJP.

On a question on the Trinamool repeating Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra as a candidate but not naming her a star campaigner, Mr Ghosh said, "This is their party's business. They can't find candidates, so they are getting tainted people and going as far as Gujarat. The public will decide."

Krishnanagar, he said, has a rich heritage. "It is the land of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And the MP representing that seat says whatever she wants in Parliament and then gets suspended. I have said nothing (compared to her). Will people vote for her?"