Kolkata : Condemning President Pranab Mukherjee’s son and MP Abhijit Mukherjee for seeking to defend Tapas Paul on the latter’s rape and violence comments, West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Thursday said he will seek an explanation.
Abhijit, a Congress parliamentarian from Bengal’s Jangipur, described Trinamool Congress MP Paul’s rape and violence remarks as a “slip of tongue” and said debate on the matter should not be dragged further.
“The party no way endorses his (Abhijit) comments, rather we condemn it. When the whole country is seething in anger over Paul’s remarks, making such a callous comment is totally unwarranted. I will seek an explanation from him,” Chowdhury told IANS.
“Tapas has written an apology letter. I feel since he has apologised and his party has pardoned him, the debate should not be dragged any further.
“At times such slips of tongue happen, although it should not. Many of us have made similar mistakes in the past. I hope such things do not get repeated in future,” said Abhijit, who once had to apologise for describing women demonstrating against the Dec 16 2012 gang-rape in Delhi as ‘highly dented and painted’.
There has been countrywide clamour for the arrest of Paul after he was caught on tapes exhorting his party workers to kill CPI-M activists even as he himself threatened to gun down his rivals and let loose his boys to rape their women.
Chowdhury who has been gunning for Paul’s arrest has been accusing Chief Minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee of “shamelessly shielding her protege” after the ruling party asserted the matter ended with an unconditional apology from the Krishnanagar MP that was tendered Tuesday to his party and the media.