RG Kar victim’s parents slam Mamata government, say only regime change can deliver justice

Asked whether they would campaign even in Bhabanipur, from where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting, he said, “If the party wants, we will campaign there also to ensure her defeat.”

New Delhi: The parents of a woman doctor who was raped and murdered inside state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital launched a scathing attack against the Mamata government and asserted that only the BJP can end the “misrule” of the TMC in West Bengal and ensure justice for their daughter as well as the safety of women in the state.

The victim’s mother has been fielded by the BJP in the assembly polls from Panihati constituency, considered a TMC stronghold, in North 24 Parganas district. Nearly a year-and-a-half after the rape and murder of their 26-year-old daughter inside a locked seminar room of the state-run hospital in August 2024, a crime that sparked nationwide outrage and months of protests across campuses and medical institutions, the parents said they now believe political change is essential for the truth to fully emerge.

In an interview to PTI, the parents said their resolve to align with the BJP and the mother’s decision to contest the assembly elections was driven by their continuing fight for justice.

“Only the BJP can ensure justice for my daughter and provide safety and security to the women of the state,” the deceased doctor’s father told PTI. We had been saying from the beginning that we would not allow anyone to indulge in politics with our child’s death. But what did the Left do other than just protest?

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“The way they ruled the state earlier and now the way they are indirectly helping the TMC to stay in power — we do not want to know who their candidate is who is contesting against us,” he said. The victim’s father said the couple would campaign together in the constituency. “My wife and I are a team. Both of us will move together across the constituency and campaign against the TMC,” he said.

Asked whether they would campaign even in Bhabanipur, from where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting, he said, “If the party wants, we will campaign there also to ensure her defeat.”

The victim’s mother said she had earlier received an offer from the BJP but was not mentally prepared to enter politics at that time. “I had long back received offers from all political parties, including the TMC and the BJP, but I was not mentally ready then. Recently, I decided to contest the polls because I want to end the misrule of the Trinamool Congress,” she said.

“Given incidents of violence against women and the urgent need for their safety, I personally expressed my desire to become a BJP candidate and held discussions with the party leadership,” she said.

Her candidature from Panihati signals the BJP’s attempt to politically channel the anger and emotional resonance of the RG Kar protest that had drawn doctors, students and civil society members to the streets for months demanding justice.

“If I win, the people of Panihati will win. I will raise my voice for those who have forgotten how to protest,” she said. “If I can serve people, my daughter will also be happy. I want the lotus to bloom across West Bengal and TMC to be uprooted,” she added.

(With PTI Inputs)

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The Times Of Bengal