A Kolkata lawyer has filed separate complaints with the city police and the state Women's Commission seeking investigation into senior BJP leader Tathagata Roy's claim of use of "women and money" by some leaders of his own party in the West Bengal assembly elections.
Roy made the allegations in social media posts, complainant Sayan Banerjee, a Calcutta High Court lawyer, said.
"I have filed a police complaint seeking an investigation into the serious allegations of use of women and money by some BJP leaders during the elections made by Tathagata Roy, a former governor of Tripura and Meghalaya," he said.
Banerjee told PTI that he has also filed another complaint with the West Bengal Women's Commission with regard to Roy's claim about abuse of women.
He said he has sought a probe by the police on money trail, if any, and whether any woman has been victimised in connection with the matter, maintaining that these are punishable offences under the Indian Penal Code.
"I have no knowledge of any action having been taken so far by either the police or the commission," Banerjee, who filed the police complaint on November 9 and with the commission about a week later, said.
Tathagata Roy, also a former West Bengal BJP chief, said he stands by his remarks and there is no question of backtracking.
"Yes, I know about it....I would ask the person who had complained that he should brush up on his knowledge about the law. Against which woman I have made those statements, can he explain it?" he told PTI when reached for comments.
Roy, who on Saturday said he has decided to bid "farewell” to the state unit of the BJP for the time being, has repeatedly poured scorn on its leaders since the party's defeat in the assembly elections, often using the "money and women" swipe.
"I was not writing on Twitter to get applause from people. I was doing this to make the party aware of the fact that some leaders got swayed by women and wealth. Now only results will speak. I will wait for the results of the municipal polls. Farewell, for now, West Bengal BJP!” Roy said on the microblogging website on Saturday.
"BJP's well-wishers pointed out that I should make complaints about money and women within the party and not publicly. I politely tell them that the time has passed. The BJP can do whatever it wants to me. But if they do not radically reform their way of functioning, the extinction of the party in West Bengal is inevitable," Roy had tweeted earlier.
Roy had asserted that he will continue to play the role of his party's "conscience-keeper" after BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh told him that he was free to leave if he was "upset and ashamed" over its style of functioning.
