The controversy over the NEET question leak protests has now taken a political turn in West Bengal, with actress Sreelekha Mitra facing police complaints over a poster carrying an objectionable picture of the Prime Minister she was seen carrying during a protest in Kolkata. BJP leaders have demanded her immediate arrest, while the actress has denied intentionally displaying the image that triggered the row.
BJP leader Keya Ghosh filed an FIR against Sreelekha Mitra at Anandapur Police Station. A separate complaint was also submitted at the Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police Station. BJP leaders said the poster carried an objectionable picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and claimed that displaying it was unacceptable.
Kolkata, West Bengal: BJP leader Keya Ghosh says, "Today, I lodged an FIR at Anandapur Police Station against Sreelekha Mitra over the objectionable poster targeting the Prime Minister in the name of the student movement. We witnessed hooliganism during the protest, including… pic.twitter.com/4pU8PT0u0q
— IANS (@ians_india) July 26, 2026
Speaking after filing the complaint, Keya Ghosh said, “Everyone has the right to protest as an artist, but no one has the right to show such an objectionable picture of the Prime Minister. We have filed an FIR and demanded her immediate arrest.”
She also referred to the protest itself and said, “We saw attacks on journalists during the demonstration. Even women journalists were not spared and were molested. Such actions cannot be accepted. Showing the Prime Minister in this manner is also unacceptable, which is why the FIR has been filed.”
Leftist actress Sreelekha Mitra seems too happy to share this cheap caricature of the Hon'ble PM.
— Keya Ghosh (@keyakahe) July 25, 2026
Hope she would hold up this happy face and not play victim card when a case is filed against her pic.twitter.com/8JsdB7Byho
Protest was over the NEET question leak
The demonstration was organised against the NEET question leak issue, which had already led to protests in several parts of the country, including Delhi and Mumbai, before reaching Kolkata. Students, activists and members of the public gathered at Dharmatala to demand action over the controversy.
Sreelekha Mitra also joined the protest in support of the students. Later, she shared photographs from the event on social media. One of those pictures went viral after she was seen holding a poster that included an objectionable image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leading to complaints from BJP leaders.
Actress says she did not notice the poster
Responding to the controversy, Sreelekha Mitra released a video on social media, saying she had no intention of displaying any objectionable image. She claimed that she was holding the poster without seeing it, and that she didn’t notice the image on the paper.
She said, “A poster that I was holding has gone viral. No matter how strongly I oppose the BJP or Modi, it is funny if someone calls me a traitor, and it is equally funny if people think I was standing with that picture on purpose.”
Explaining the situation, she said the posters had come from Delhi and that the protest involved a huge crowd of students. “There were thousands of boys and girls. The police were lathi-charging the protesters, and I was running with them. I was wearing sunglasses and had not noticed the picture on the poster. During the police action, I did not even look at it.”
She also criticised the political response to the incident, saying, “I had heard ‘Fear out, trust in,’ but now the Chief Minister is saying that people will be punished in a way they will remember. That sounds like intimidation.”
The complaints against Sreelekha Mitra are now with the police, while the political debate over the protest and the poster continues.
