Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday said the result for the Basirhat seat, under which Sandeshkhali falls, was already out as the sting videos of May 4 exposed that the BJP had scripted the incidents.

Speaking at an election meeting in Baduria of North 24-Parganas in support of the party’s Basirhat candidate Haji Nurul Islam, Abhishek said: “Election will be held here on June 1 and results will be announced on June 4. But the reality of the Sandeshkhali conspiracy came to the fore on May 4. I think that is the day the result for the Basirhat seat became clear.”

“The Sandeshkhali sting video was released in the public domain on May 4 and people heard BJP mandal president confessing on camera that no rapes took place in Sandeshkhali. The BJP leaders, under directives from the central and state leadership, wanted to frame Trinamool Congress leaders,” he said.

Speaking at the rally, which was attended by a large number of women, the Diamond Harbour MP said that the June 1 poll in Basirhat was not just to repose faithin Trinamool and Mamata, but rather to teach the BJP“a lesson”.

“This election is more to teach those in the BJP who maligned the image of Bengal before the 140 crore citizens of India a lesson. The BJP should be taught a lesson in such a way that they would think twice before entering Sandeshkhali in the next 10 years,” Abhishek said.

“They misguided women by paying ₹2,000 and compelled them to file fake rape complaints, selling the dignity of five crore women of Bengal,” he added.

Repeating that the agitation in Sandeshkhali was part of a larger conspiracy by the top BJP leadership hoping to win 35 Bengal seats with an ultimate aim to topple Mamata, Abhishek said: “These people have stooped so low that in Lok Sabha elections they are asking for votes in the name of toppling a democratically elected state government instead of asking for votes for overall development.”

The BJP wants to put an end to Lakshmir Bhandar, he alleged.

Reminding people about the “conspiracy” in Sandeshkhali, Abhishek alleged that the agitation was so fake that even those people who went to meet the President in New Delhi had dubious identities.

“In the video, (BJP’s Basirhat nominee) Rekha Patra was heard saying that women who went to meet the President in Delhi were not the faces of the movement. Instead, those who went to meet the President were all random persons with fake claims,” Abhishek said.

Abhishek told his party supporters to question Rekha’s credibility as the face of the Sandeshkhali movement and ask her about the party’s stand on Gangadhar Koyal, who had denied any rape and named Suvendu Adhikari and other BJP leaders as having instructed party workers to pay ₹2,000 to women and make them sign on blank sheets of paper to file fake rape cases.

At an election rally in Sonarpur on Sunday evening, chief minister Mamata Banerjee claimed the party’s MP from Jadavpur Mimi Chakraborty failed to rise to the expectations of the leadership.

Mamata, who urged people to vote for Saayoni Ghosh, said: “In the last term you (people) did not get many services (from our MP). But, Saayoni is my candidate and she will work hard.”

Mamata, however, did not blame Mimi.

“...she (Mimi) has no fault. She used to remain busy with films. It was our fault. So we have rectified the mistake,” Mamata said.