BJP’s MLA from Siliguri Shankar Ghosh today said that he would resign as the Member of Legislative Assembly if any neutral investigative agency can prove that he misbehaved with any woman.

Addressing the Press here, Mr Ghosh today brushed aside a complaint filed by a woman at the Siliguri police station against him. Bhaswati Nayak, a resident of Ward No 24, has lodged a complaint at the Siliguri police station on 16 September and alleged that the Siliguri MLA went on the rampage with a group of youngsters at a vaccination camp and that he dragged her out of the camp by holding her hand.

According to Ms Nayak, Mr Ghosh also threatened all locals present there and used indecorous words and called chief minister Mamata Banerjee names. “I was taken aback as I came to know from the media that a woman had lodged such a complaint against me. The entire complaint is totally false. The Trinamul Congress has played nasty politics by using a woman and her false complaint against me. It is humiliation of the Siliguri MLA as well as the Siliguri people who have elected me as their representative,”

“I don’t know why TMC leaders are playing such a nasty political game. Are they in fear of the forthcoming Siliguri Municipal Corporation elections as I protested against the TMC’s malpractices in at the Covid-19 vaccination camp? Do they want to hush-up the malpractices in vaccination camps in Siliguri?”

Mr Ghosh has claimed that he was assaulted in his area in Ward 24 on 15 September as he protested the alleged malpractices being committed by local Trinamul Congress activists led by one Bikash Sarkar, who is close to the BoA Chairman Gautam Deb.

Notably, the Siliguri organisational district president of the party, Papia Ghosh, has sought a clarification from Bikash Sarkar. Talking to reporters here, Mr Ghosh further said: “I will see it to the end. TMC’s nasty politics should be stopped. It is also humiliation of the womenfolk in Siliguri, as TMC has used a woman to lodge a false allegation against a political leader. I have informed the West Bengal Governor of the matter.

I will also file a complaint with the Union Home department and raise the issue even in the Assembly as part of post-poll violence. I will also request the state police to check the footages taken by all CC TV cameras where the incident took place. I am ready to face any investigation.”

“I have informed my party that I would not hesitate to resign from the MLA’s post if any investigative agency can prove that I misbehaved with women in Siliguri,” he added. Asked to comment, Papia Ghosh, said: “In response to
my show-cause notice, Bikash Sarkar has furnished his written statement. As I was busy in political events throughout the day today, I have not been able to go through it.”

“I have come to know about a complaint against Siliguri MLA. I am looking into the matter to know what exactly happened there. Law will take its own course, but the party will not spare anyone found guilty in the party’s internal investigations,” Mrs Ghosh said.