The BJP West Bengal unit is on the defence over a statement made by one of its leaders during a rally in the Paschim Medinipur district. Kalipad Sengupta, a BJP state committee member, reportedly suggested that men should restrain women beneficiaries of the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme from voting for the Trinamool Congress. His comments have triggered strong reactions, particularly from the TMC ranks.
Desperate times desperate measures…
— Sushmita Dev সুস্মিতা দেব (@SushmitaDevAITC) January 4, 2026
BJP state committee member Kalipada Sengupta, at @BJP4India “Sankalp Sabha” in Paschim Medinipur, begging husbands to lock up their wives who receive Lakshmir Bhandar, so they can’t step out to vote. pic.twitter.com/dJCs3zXTkb
Speaking at a rally held at Kalaikundu ground in Daspur, Kalipad Sengupta said women receiving Lakshmir Bhandar benefits might vote for the Trinamool Congress and urged their husbands to "keep them confined at home" to ensure votes went to the BJP instead of the ruling party. A video clip of the purported statement has gone viral on social media, news agency PTI said.
Asked about the remark, state BJP leaders declined to comment and said they were unaware whether such a statement had been made from the stage, the news agency added.
Clarifying the BJP's position on the scheme, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar said, "If the BJP comes to power, Lakshmir Bhandar will continue. The name may change; that will be decided later. But we will give more money than what the TMC is offering," adding that the BJP would also create job opportunities for the husbands of beneficiary women.
No one in the country is in danger, the real danger lies with the @BJP4India itself. And that truth has been brutally exposed by the disgraceful remarks of BJP state committee member Kalipada Sengupta. Such vile statements do not come from nowhere; they reveal the BJP’s deeply… pic.twitter.com/FTaiEhcEds
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) January 4, 2026
While the TMC claimed that the statement proved the BJP was "anti-women and anti-Bengal", Sengupta, however, remained defiant and reportedly said that women beneficiaries should consider the unemployment faced by their sons and husbands before voting. "There are no jobs in the state. Women get Lakshmir Bhandar and vote for the TMC, while their sons and husbands are forced to migrate to other states for work," he said.
Reacting to the controversy, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee launched a scathing attack on the BJP in a post on X, sharing a video purportedly showing Sengupta's remarks. In the post, Banerjee accused the BJP of deploying what he called a "Bangla-Birodhi toolkit", alleging that after attempts to delete voters' names during the Special Intensive Revision failed, the party had "sunk to feudal and patriarchal barbarism by urging husbands to lock up their wives at home, so women empowered by Lakshmir Bhandar can't step out to vote".
He said the BJP had threatened to scrap Lakshmir Bhandar if it came to power, had mocked Bengali Hindus for allegedly "selling themselves" for ₹500, and had described direct aid to women as alms. "And now they openly threaten women's hard-won suffrage because their votes endanger BJP's pathetic electoral chances?" the post said, adding that in 2026, women would "march to the polling booths in millions and bury your regressive, Bangla-Birodhi, Nari-Birodhi politics forever".
