Addressing a news conference, state minister Shashi Panja said, “We feel that there is a need to take a team from Sandeshkhali on our behalf and apprise the President of what had really happened in Sandeshkhali. We will seek the go-ahead from our top leadership for this.”

Panja added, “The BJP had taken a group of women to the Rashtrapati Bhavan and had misguided the President. They have shown disrespect to the high chair of the President. Therefore, there is a need to show the other side of the story as well.”

The senior TMC leader further said, “The BJP is spreading lies every day. They are maligning the image of West Bengal by resorting to falsehood. Now we have to follow the right protocol to meet the President if our top leadership gives its approval.”

The BJP had alleged that local Trinamool Congress leaders of Sandeshkhali had sexually harassed women in the region. The charge has been refuted by the TMC, saying that it was a false narrative of the BJP. The party had also alleged that BJP leaders had allegedly paid money to the women of Sandeshkhali to level false allegations against TMC leaders.

A purported sting operation video, the authenticity of which has not been verified by The Indian Express, surfaced recently which showed local BJP leader Gangadhar Koyal admitting that the BJP had paid money to the women of Sandeshkhali to make false allegations of sexual harassment.

Meanwhile, Panja alleged that the chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) was also involved in the conspiracy of the BJP in Sandeshkhali and the party will lodge a complaint against her with the Election Commission. “The BJP should either apologise for this or keep quiet. They want to portray that women are not safe in West Bengal in the Trinamool Congress regime. But in reality, that is not true. They are indulging in false narratives to win the Lok Sabha polls,” she said.