'Very sad for women of Sandeshkhali...will visit there after polls: Mamata Banerjee

Basirhat (West Bengal) [India], May 21 (ANI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her 'grief' for the women victims in Sandeshkhali and assured that she would visit there after the elections.
Notably, multiple women in Sandeshkhali accused TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh of "land grabbing" and "sexual assault". Following this, the strongman leader was suspended from the party for six years.
"What has happened with the women of Sandeshkhali, the way our mothers and sisters have been mistreated? I express my sadness from the bottom of my heart. We have to make sure that no one is able to play with the dignity of our mothers and daughters. If the episode hadn't come out, no one would have known BJP's conspiracy behind it," CM Mamata said addressing a public meeting in Basirhat on Tuesday.
The TMC supremo said she will visit Sandeshkhali as soon as her party candidate Haji Nurul wins from Basirhat.
"Everyone expects me to visit them during elections...I will definitely go everywhere. I will visit Sandeshkhali too...As soon as our candidate Haji Nurul wins Basirhat, I will visit Sandeshkhali within a few days," she said.
The West Bengal CM lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party over 'crimes against women' in the BJP-ruled states.
She also took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's conversation with BJP candidate and Sandeshkhali victim, Rekha Patra.
"PM calls someone over the phone, holds a tutored conversation, and circulates that on television. But how many people does he actually talk to and care about? It is under his tenure that the country saw maximum crimes against women. BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh is number one state in crimes against women. If there are one or two incidents here, we take immediate action," CM Mamata said.
BJP's Rekha Patra will be contesting against Trinamool Congress' Haji Nurul Islam for the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat. Basirhat will go to the polls in the last phase on June 1. The counting of votes will be held on June 4
Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district started hitting the headlines in February this year when villagers, mostly women, came out on the streets against the ruling TMC and Shahjahan, accusing the strongman and his aides of perpetrating gross excesses and atrocities on them while also gobbling up their land. Multiple women on the island accused Shajahan and his aides of "land-grab and sexual assault" under coercion.
Shahjahan, the key Sandeshkhali accused, is currently behind bars in connection with the attack on a team of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) while it was in the process of raiding his residence in connection with the alleged ration scam. (ANI)