BJP candidate Rekha Patra lodged a formal complaint alleging a privacy violation by a TMC nominee, who is accused of sharing her personal details publicly. The complaint specifically addresses the unauthorized disclosure of Patra’s sensitive information, including contact and bank account details, through social media.
NEW DELHI: On Friday, March 28th: Rekha Patra, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate for the Basirhat constituency in West Bengal, lodged a complaint with the National Commission for Women (NCW) against Debangshu Bhattacharyya, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) nominee. Patra alleges that Bhattacharyya violated her privacy by publicly sharing her personal information and bank account details.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Basirhat candidate, Rekha Patra, known for her advocacy on women’s issues in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali region, has taken legal action against Debangshu Bhattacharyya, the Trinamool Congress nominee from the Tamluk Lok Sabha seat. Patra has accused Bhattacharyya, who is also the head of the TMC’s social media cell, of breaching her privacy rights by divulging her personal information and bank account details on Facebook.
In a letter submitted by Patra’s lawyer to the National Commission for Women (NCW), it is alleged that Bhattacharyya shared private details such as Patra’s phone number, bank account information, and her participation in government welfare schemes like Swasthya Sathi and Duare Sarkar.
Patra’s lawyer argues that this “act not only violates her right to privacy but also amounts to an outrage against her modesty”.
Debangshu Bhattacharyya, in his defense, claimed
That Patra had used the state-sponsored health insurance scheme in 2021. He shared a card as evidence, indicating her participation in the ‘Duare Sarkar’ program, which is a government outreach initiative aimed at providing benefits like the ‘Swasthya Sathi’ and ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ financial assistance schemes for women.
In reaction to the post made by the TMC leader, Rekha Sharma, the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW), expressed criticism towards the TMC administration.
“Does @MamataOfficial use her own funds? That’s the money of the taxpayers, meant for every citizen of West Bengal. Is it exclusively for @AITCofficial affiliates? And what’s meant by ‘Delhi’s Jomidars’? Isn’t West Bengal a part of India? It seems you people act as though Momta Benarji has ownership over the state,” said Ms. Sharma.
In response, TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP, Sagarika Ghose, pointed out a mistake in the NCW chairperson’s spelling of Mamata Banerjee’s name, critiquing her attention to detail.
“It would be beneficial if the head of the National Commission for Women could accurately spell the name of India’s sole female Chief Minister,” she remarked in her post.
She further appealed to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, urging immediate action against Bhattacharyya for violating her privacy rights, outraging her modesty, and potentially breaching provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Protection (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW), Rekha Sharma, criticized the TMC government.
Sharma questioned
whether the state’s welfare schemes were exclusively reserved for TMC workers and expressed concern about the use of taxpayers’ money. However, TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP, Sagarika Ghose, criticized Sharma’s misspelling of Mamata Banerjee’s name, highlighting the need for the chairperson to be more accurate in her statements.
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Patra’s lawyer emphasized the political challenges faced by the BJP candidate since her nomination. He also highlighted Patra’s role in leading protests against individuals accused of threatening and sexually assaulting women in Sandeshkhali.