The Election Commission on Wednesday issued show-cause notices to BJP leader Dilip Ghosh and Congress leader Supriya Shrinate for their offensive remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Kangana Ranaut respectively.
According to the ECI, the remarks by Shrinate were found to violate of MCC provisions and the ECI advisory dated March 1, 2024. The poll body said that the remarks were “undignified and in bad taste”.
The two have been asked to respond to the show-cause notices by March 29 evening.
Shrinate triggered a massive row on Monday after an Instagram post on Kangana Ranaut. Putting out a screenshot of the the Instagram post of Shrinate, Ranaut in a post on X said, “Dear Supriya ji. In the last 20 years of my career as an artist I have played all kinds of women. From a naive girl in Queen to a seductive spy in Dhaakad, from a goddess in Manikarnika to a demon in Chandramukhi, from a prostitute in Rajjo to a revolutionary leader in Thalaivii.”
“We must free our daughters from the shackles of prejudices, we must rise above the curiosity about their body parts and above all we must refrain from using sex workers challenging lives or circumstances as some kind of abuse or slur… every woman deserves her dignity,” the post from Kangana Ranaut added.
Meanwhile, Shrinate, who heads Congress’ social media and digital platforms, clarified someone had “access” to her accounts, and posted it.
In a post on X, Shrinate wrote, “Someone who had access to my meta accounts ( FB and Insta) posted an absolutely disgusting and objectionable post, which has been taken down. Anyone who knows me will know I would never say that for a woman.”
Meanwhile, Dilip Ghosh has been issued show cause notice because of his alleged derogatory remarks against Banerjee, during his morning walk in Durgapur.
“When Didi goes to Goa, she calls herself ‘daughter of Goa’. When she goes to Tripura, she says that she is the ‘daughter of Tripura’. Decide who your father is. It’s not right to be anybody’s daughter,” he said to his laughing audience.
Following this, the Trinamool Congress had filed a complaint with the West Bengal chief electoral officer on March 26, and demanded strict action against him.