Union Minister Babul Supriyo has come under criticism after the BJP leader, while taking a dig at TMC’s election campaign slogan ‘Bangla NijerMeyekeiChay’ (Bengal wants its own daughter), said “betiparayadhanhotihai” (a daughter is someone else’s wealth). The minister has, however, deleted the tweet.
The tweet had an image of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with a mic and the words “I am the daughter of Bengal” written in Hindi. Below, was an image of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with folded hands and the words “Betiparayadhanhotihai, iss bar vidakardenge (A daughter is someone else’s wealth, this time we will send her off)”.
In the tweet, Supriyo mentioned that the meme was originally posted by the BJP’s Asansol district unit. While sharing the meme, Supriyo wrote, “Kar hi denge is bar vidaa (Will send her off this time for sure)”.
The remarks by Supriyo invited severe flak from TMC supporters even as #BanglaNijerMeyekeiChay started trending on Twitter. Minister of Women and Child Development Dr Shashi Panja said “Bengal will take misogynistic forces head on”
“Bengal is known for celebrating their daughters and the state has proven yet again that it won’t take any disrespect to her daughter and that it will take misogynistic forces head on,” Panja said.
“Babul Supriyo ji, I am extremely worried about the state of women’s affairs in this country if public representatives like you endorse such chauvinist views. STUNNED and SHOCKED to see how deep and wide sexism runs in BJP leaders,” she later tweeted.
Last week, TMC launched its main campaign slogan ‘Bangla NijerMeyekeiChay’, portraying Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the “daughter of Bengal” ahead of the Assembly elections. The slogan signals the transformation of Mamata Banerjee from her popular image of ‘didi’ (elder sister) to ‘nijermeye’ (own daughter).
By Aishwarya Choudhury
