Advocate Koustav Bagchi, the spokesperson of the West Bengal Congress shaved off his hair, minutes after a Kolkata court granted him bail. He has vowed to stay bald till he ousts Mamta Banerjee from power in the state. Several people, including many Congress leaders, were present during the occasion.
“Shaving off my hair is a mark of protest. Until I dethrone Mamata Banerjee, I will not grow my hair,” Bagchi told reporters after getting bail. He added that he would consider apologizing if Mamata expressed remorse to state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
After the party won the Sagardighi seat in Murshidabad district from the TMC in a byelection, Bagchi reportedly slammed Mamata Banerjee for mounting ‘personal assaults’ on the veteran Congress leader, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, referring to his daughter’s suicide in 2006.
Bagchi was criticized by the Trinamool Congress for his statement on the CM.
“Koustav Bagchi has made foul comments about a woman, a woman who is called Didi. We offer prayers before Durga. A man had the desire to humiliate someone like Mamata Banerjee,” senior minister Dr. Sashi Panja stated while addressing the media.
She claimed, that he should apologize if he has any remorse. “When a woman is being mistreated, others who remain silent are also encouraging it. Don’t endorse it, criticize the sexist remarks. Apologize if you have any conscience”, she added
Bagchi was arrested by Kolkata Police on Saturday morning for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Mamata Banerjee. A written complaint was made in response to his remarks, at the Burtolla Police Station in Kolkata.
Police stormed his residence in Barrackpore, at around 3:00 am, in the North 24 Parganas district, and shortly thereafter, they arrested him. He was produced before Bankshall court in the evening.
The Congress leader was granted bail on the same day. He was asked to furnish a bail bond of Rs. 1,000 and the additional chief metropolitan magistrate set the date of hearing on April 5.
He was also ordered to see the investigating officer once a week by the court.
Why was Koustav Bagchi arrested
In a news conference on Friday, Bagchi mentioned a book by a retired IAS officer named Deepak Kumar Ghosh that purportedly contained references to the Chief Minister’s private life.
“There are many special things in the book. Her familial troubles are covered in great detail in the 189-page book. It narrates the event in which she ate chocolate sandwiches while on a hunger strike,” he had asserted.
Bagchi proclaimed, that the public will recognize them (the incidents) once they are disclosed, and the book will reveal Mamata Banerjee’s secrets. He announced, “Soft copies of the book will be distributed all around the state.”
He was arrested at around 3:00 in the morning, from his house, within 24 hours of the statement.