Kolkata, Feb 28 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT Cell Chief and party’s central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, on Saturday, questioned the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress’ decision to nominate Menaka Guruswamy for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in the state.

In an X post, Malviya claimed that Chief Minister Banerjee has rewarded Guruswamy for defending the then Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal in the RG Kar rape and murder case.

“Mamata Banerjee has rewarded Menaka Guruswamy, a non-Bengali, with a Rajya Sabha seat. The optics are striking. She had appeared for Vineet Goyal, the then Kolkata Police Commissioner, in a matter that has shaken Bengal’s conscience, the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder case,” he said.

The BJP leader said that Guruswamy’s nomination sends a wrong message to the people, who were shaken by the RG Kar protest.

“Serious questions were raised about how the investigation was handled. The disclosure of the victim’s identity triggered outrage. Protesting junior doctors and large sections of the medical fraternity demanded accountability and transparency. Trust in the system was deeply shaken. At such a moment, this nomination sends a message and not a reassuring one,” Malviya added.

Commenting on the horrific RG Kar rape and murder case, the BJP leader said, “People across Bengal must pause and reflect on the unimaginable loss suffered by the victim’s middle-class parents, who spent their life’s savings educating their only child, only to see her life cut short in the most brutal way.”

Malviya added, “For the protesting doctors and the wider medical community seeking justice for their colleague, this decision will be seen not as closure but as a provocation. In public life, perception matters. And this perception is unlikely to fade anytime soon.”

The Trinamool Congress on Friday night announced the names of its candidates for the vacant Rajya Sabha seats in West Bengal, with lots of surprises in the choice of candidates.

Among the four candidates was the name of the senior advocate of the Supreme Court, Menaka Guruswamy, who was the counsel of the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the legal battle on the issue of controversies relating to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) recent raid at the office of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and the residence of I-PAC’s founder director, Pratik Jain.

–IANS

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