NEW DELHI: The BJP on Sunday lashed out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for asking female boarders not to venture out at night following the alleged gangrape of a medical student, and demanded her resignation, calling her a "blot on womanhood".
The party accused the Trinamool Congress supremo of "victim shaming and blaming" and said a chief minister who cannot stand with women in their darkest hour has no moral right to govern the state.
This comes after Banerjee said that female boarders, especially those from outside the state, should follow hostel rules and not venture out late at night.
The chief minister made the remarks after a student of a private medical college in Durgapur, hailing from Odisha, was allegedly gang-raped on Friday night when she went out with a friend for dinner.
Reacting sharply to her remarks, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia wrote on X, " Shameless @MamataOfficial a blot on womanhood, even more for being a CM. After RG Kar and Sandeshkhali, now this horrific case of rape and instead of justice, she blames the victim," he charged.
Slamming Banerjee's remarks, Bhatia said that a chief minister who tells girls not to go out at night, rather than ensuring their safety, has no moral right to stay in office.
People now realise they have reposed faith in an "anarchist, heartless Mamata", he charged. "She must resign and be held accountable under law," Bhatia added.
BJP co-incharge for West Bengal Amit Malviya termed Banerjee's remarks "disgraceful" and said a chief minister who cannot stand with women in their darkest hour has no moral right to govern the state.
"West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has blamed the second-year MBBS student from Odisha....who was brutally gang raped by Wasif Ali and his accomplices, for her own assault," Malviya charged.
She suggested that girls should not go out late at night, implying that if they do, they are inviting rape, he alleged.
"This isn't the first time Mamata Banerjee has spoken with such insensitivity. Time and again, she has chosen to blame the victim instead of the perpetrators," The BJP leader said.
Another BJP spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla, accused Banerjee of indulging in "victim shaming and blaming". "Instead of standing with the Beti (daughter), she blames the Beti and defends Balatkari (rapist)," he said.
"Will the outrage lobby who was shouting yesterday - Supriya Shrinate, Priyanka Vadra, Rahul Gandhi, etc, open their mouths now?" Poonawalla asked, training guns at Congress over its silence on the issue.