Ex Judge Barred From Campaigning For Sexist Comments On Mamata Banerjee

Delhi/Kolkata: High Court judge-turned-politician Abhijit Gangopadhyay has been barred by the poll panel from campaigning for 24 hours over sexist remarks on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The Election Commission of India (EC) said that the candidates contesting the ongoing Lok Sabha polls should refrain from making statements that amount to attack on anyone’s personal life.

The BJP, meanwhile, claimed it was a “fake video”. “We don’t agree with the existence of any such videos. This is a ploy by the TMC to release fake videos and malign the BJP. But that won’t make any difference in the elections,” BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.

The former judge’s purported comment — videos of which are circulating online — has provided massive ammunition to Trinamool, which has tagged the BJP as “anti-women” since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Didi-O-Didi” taunt in 2021.

Mr Gangopadhyay’s video, who is contesting from Tamluk, comes amid the Sandeshkhali row and the subsequent battle for the support of the state’s women voters.

Mr Gangopadhyay – who made headlines with his rulings and has had run-ins with lawyers, judges, and senior leaders from Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress – quit the Calcutta High Court and joined the BJP in March this year.