TMC lashes out at Giriraj's 'misogynistic' dig at Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA: TMC on Wednesday came down heavily on Union rural development minister Giriraj Singh and Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari for their "thumke" dig at CM Mamata Banerjee - referring to her matching steps with Bollywood stars Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Sonakshi Sinha and Mahesh Bhatt at the Kolkata International Film Festival.

While Mamata brushed aside Singh's comment saying "arre choro" (leave it), her party termed their comments "regressive" and "misogynistic", and equated the jibes with the "Didi-O-Didi" taunt by PM Modi in the run-up to the 2021 assembly polls. Speaking to a TV channel in Delhi, Singh had made gestures and said, "Jashn mana rahe hai, thumke lage rahe hain (she is celebrating, she is dancing)", while responding to a question on central rural funds. Facing a backlash, Singh later said: "Yes, I did refer to jashn, but not thumka. I did not insult Banerjee..."