Overview
- BJP state committee member Kalipada Sengupta was recorded at a Paschim Medinipur meeting urging husbands to keep Lakshmir Bhandar beneficiaries at home so they would not vote for the TMC, with a clip circulating online that PTI said it could not independently verify.
- Trinamool leaders, led by Abhishek Banerjee, condemned the comment as feudal and patriarchal and framed it as an attempt to deter women from voting.
- State minister Sashi Panja said women could file police complaints over any threats or intimidation linked to their right to vote.
- State BJP leaders declined to confirm the remark, while Sengupta defended his stance by citing unemployment and migration of men from the state.
- Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said the BJP would keep Lakshmir Bhandar if it won power, possibly under a new name with higher payouts and job initiatives for husbands; the scheme currently pays ₹1,000 to general-category women and ₹1,200 to those from reserved categories, covering over 2.23 crore women.