Durgapur: BJP leaders, including former MP and actress Locket Chatterjee, were prevented from entering Durgapur Hospital to meet the 2nd-year MBBS student who was gangraped. The leaders accused the West Bengal government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of authoritarian control and failing to protect women’s rights.

At the hospital gate, BJP’s Locket Chatterjee expressed strong criticism of the administration’s handling of the situation, saying, “The building is labelled as 'Emergency', but it is closed... It is supposed to remain open 24 hours. Because of the Chief Minister's instructions, the police are inside... Why should the police be inside? The doctors are outside, the police are inside. Mamata Banerjee's rule is going on here. A Taliban or Pakistan-like rule is going on here.”

What is the BJP’s critique of Mamata Banerjee’s response to the gangrape?

Locket Chatterjee directly referenced Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s controversial remarks following the incident, where the CM said girls “should not be allowed to go outside at night” for their own safety. Chatterjee questioned this approach, saying, “Mamata Banerjee says that no woman should go out to a forest at night because animals can come and eat her... Today in West Bengal, a woman CM is asking people not to go out... This is the current condition of the people of West Bengal. The women of West Bengal will answer for this.”

She also invoked the Operation Sindoor incident, referring to when the IAF, including Sofiya Qureshi and Vyomika Singh, attacked Pakistan during the night.

Locket Chatterjee’s comments likened Mamata Banerjee’s administration to “Taliban or Pakistan-like rule,” accusing it of authoritarian measures that restrict freedom and safety, especially for women.