TMC, BJP trade barbs over Durgapur rape case as 'Aparajita Bill' row resurfaces

Kolkata: A fresh political slugfest erupted on Monday after the alleged gang rape of a medical student in Durgapur, as the TMC and BJP locked horns over the fate of the stalled Aparajita Bill, the Mamata Banerjee government's proposed law to toughen punishment for crimes against women.

While the opposition BJP accused her government of "completely failing" to ensure women's safety in the state, the ruling TMC hit back, blaming the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for "sitting" on the Aparajita Bill and preventing it from becoming law.

The Durgapur woman, a medical student originally from Odisha, was allegedly gang-raped near the college campus in the industrial township on the night of October 10.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi's office posted an appeal on social media urging Mamata Banerjee to ensure "exemplary punishment" for the culprits.

Though the West Bengal CM refrained from a direct response, the TMC leadership reignited the debate over the Aparajita (Women and Child Protection) Bill, 2025, pointing out that it could have served as a stronger deterrent, if only the Centre had not stalled it.

"Our government did its duty. We passed the Aparajita Bill in the Assembly with all-party consensus even though the BJP supported it then. But the Centre and the governor have turned it into a hostage of politics," TMC leader Arup Chakraborty told PTI.

The Aparajita Bill was passed unanimously in a special Assembly session in September 2024, in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The legislation was introduced after the brutal rape and murder of a young doctor at Kolkata's R G Kar Medical College on August 8 last year, an incident that had triggered massive protests under the 'Reclaim the Night' movement and forced the state government to promise sweeping legal reforms.

The Bill, named after the Bengali word for 'unconquered woman', proposed stricter punishment, including death penalty and life imprisonment without remission, for heinous crimes such as rape and murder of women and children.

However, the legislation hit a constitutional roadblock after Governor C V Ananda Bose forwarded it to President Droupadi Murmu for assent.

In July this year, the Centre sent the Bill back to Raj Bhavan seeking clarifications, which were then relayed to the state government.

According to Raj Bhavan sources, the Centre raised "serious objections" to the proposed measures in the Aparajita Bill that sought to alter multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the new national criminal code.

"The Centre observed that the Bill's proposed punishments for rape and allied offences were excessively harsh and disproportionate to those in the BNS," a Raj Bhawan official had said in July, adding that "The Centre has asked why a new state law is required when a comprehensive national law already exists to deal with such crimes." Legal experts say the matter is now in limbo. Unless the state government provides satisfactory explanations addressing the constitutional and legal concerns raised by the Centre, the Bill cannot proceed further.

For the BJP, the Durgapur case has provided a political opening to question Mamata Banerjee's claims of ensuring women's safety.

"Instead of blaming Delhi, the chief minister should look within. Bengal has become unsafe for women. Law and order has collapsed," BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya told PTI.

Echoing his party's criticism, Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said it was "a matter of shame" that women's safety remained in such a poor state even under a woman chief minister.

"It is unfortunate that we failed to protect our sister from Odisha. Instead of ensuring women's safety, the chief minister is telling women to take care of their own protection," the senior BJP leader said.

The TMC countered the charge by accusing the BJP-led Centre of hypocrisy.

"The same BJP that supported the Aparajita Bill in the Assembly is now blocking its implementation by Delhi. The Modi government talks a lot about 'Beti Bachao', but when a state tries to do something concrete, they stop it," state Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja said.

"The people of Bengal are watching. If the Centre doesn't allow this Bill to become law, it will be seen as obstructing women's justice," she said.

The controversy has also reopened the debate over the balance of power between the Centre and the states in framing criminal laws.

Under the Constitution, while 'public order' and 'police' fall under the state list, criminal law remains in the concurrent list, requiring central concurrence for any amendment to national statutes like the BNS.

The Aparajita Bill was among Mamata Banerjee's key political promises made in the wake of the R G Kar outrage, and its fate now risks turning into a symbol of political deadlock between the state and the Centre.