'Mamata should first identify own father,' BJP leader Dilip Ghosh's remark draws TMC ire

Kolkata: A controversy erupted on Tuesday after senior BJP leader and MP Dilip Ghosh was heard mocking the family background of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a purported video clip.

This drew a retort from the TMC, which said the remarks by the BJP MP reflect the 'DNA of the saffron camp'.

The TMC shared the purported video clip in which Ghosh was heard making the remarks.

"..When Didi (CM Mamata Banerjee) goes to Goa, she calls herself daughter of Goa. When she goes to Tripura, she says that she is the daughter of Tripura. She should first identify her own father...", Ghosh was heard saying.

PTI, however, couldn't independently verify the authenticity of the video clip.

The former West Bengal BJP president, presently contesting from the Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha seat, mocked TMC's slogan of 'Bangla Nijer Meye ke chai (Bengal wants its own daughter)'.

Ghosh, the sitting MP from the Medinipur Lok Sabha seat, was referring to the TMC's 2021 poll slogan 'Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chai'.

The TMC is approaching the Election Commission against the BJP leader for his comment.

West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja demanded an apology from Ghosh and said the comments reflect the 'DNA of the saffron camp'.

"He should immediately tender his apology. The comments reflect the DNA of the saffron camp, which smacks of the misogynistic mindset of the BJP. The EC must take note of it," she said.

"@DilipGhoshBJP is a disgrace in the name of political leadership! From challenging the lineage of Maa Durga to now questioning the ancestry of Smt. @MamataOfficial, he has wallowed in the filthiest depths of moral bankruptcy," the TMC posted on X.

The party also said, "One thing is crystal clear: Ghosh has zero respect for the women of Bengal, whether it be the revered goddess of Hinduism or the only woman Chief Minister of India."

The TMC had fanned the 'Bengali pride' by coming up with a poll slogan, 'Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chai' and has created a poll narrative of sub-nationalism to counter BJP's identity politics in the 2021 assembly polls.

The 'insider-outsider' debate in West Bengal gained strength before the assembly polls with the ruling TMC embracing Bengali sub-nationalism as its main poll plank to counter the rise of the BJP's Hindutva narrative in the state and has branded it as a 'party of outsiders'.