Kolkata, February 28 – Amit Malviya, the chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s IT Cell and the party's central observer for West Bengal, questioned the decision of Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress to nominate Menaka Guruswamy for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in the state on Saturday.
In a post on X, Malviya claimed that Chief Minister Banerjee had rewarded Guruswamy for defending then Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal in the RG Kar rape and murder case.
"Mamata Banerjee has rewarded Menaka Guruswamy, a non-Bengali, with a seat in the Rajya Sabha. This creates a very negative impression. She had represented Vineet Goyal, the then Kolkata Police Commissioner, in a case that deeply affected the conscience of Bengal, the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder case," he said.
The BJP leader said that Guruswamy's nomination sends a wrong message to the people, who were deeply affected by the RG Kar protests.
"Serious questions were raised about how the investigation was handled. The disclosure of the victim's identity sparked outrage. Protesting junior doctors and a large section of the medical community demanded accountability and transparency. Trust in the system was deeply shaken. At such a moment, this nomination sends a message, not a reassuring one," Malviya added.
Commenting on the horrific RG Kar rape and murder case, the BJP leader said, "People across Bengal must pause and reflect on the unimaginable loss suffered by the victim's middle-class parents, who spent their life's savings educating their only child, only to see her life cut short in the most brutal way."
Malviya added, "For the protesting doctors and the wider medical community seeking justice for their colleague, this decision will be seen not as closure, but as a provocation. In public life, perception matters. And this perception is unlikely to fade anytime soon."
The Trinamool Congress announced the names of its candidates for the vacant Rajya Sabha seats in West Bengal on Friday night, with several surprising choices.
Among the four candidates was the name of senior advocate of the Supreme Court, Menaka Guruswamy, who was the legal counsel of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the legal battle over the recent raid by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at the office of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and the residence of I-PAC's founder director, Pratik Jain.
