Tripura BJP MLA draws flak after video of woman washing her feet goes viral

BJP activists on social media said that the woman washed MLA Mimi Majumder’s feet despite she asked her not to do so.

AGARTALA: A video where a woman is seen washing the feet of a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator in Tripura while the latter went to visit a locality in her constituency went viral on social media on Friday.

The incident happened after a heavy rain shower during MLA Mimi Majumder’s visit to her constituency. (ANI)

The video was uploaded on the official Facebook page of opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) with a caption, “A woman had to wash feet of BJP legislator after photo-shoot.” The video showed the woman washing the feet of the legislator, Mimi Majumder, with soap and water during her visit in her Badharghat constituency on Thursday evening after a heavy rain shower in the city.

Majumder was elected legislator from Badharghat seat in 2019 after the seat fell vacant following demise of BJP legislator Dilip Sarkar.

Refuting the video, a few BJP activists clarified on social media that the woman washed the legislator’s feet despite she asked her not to do so.

Justifying their clarification, the BJP activists shared the full video on Facebook, tagging the legislator, where the MLA was heard asking the woman not to touch her feet.

“Our didi became a victim of the CPM’s dirty politics. We have seen the video was shared in a worse way on CPM’s official Facebook page. See the real truth that people wash her feet out of love despite didi asked her not to do so. This is what didi get - people’s love,” Suraj Roy, a BJP activist, wrote on Facebook.

The Tripura incident came a day after a video of a ruling BJP MLA in Assam riding piggyback on a journalist during a flood inspection went viral on Thursday.

Misra was accompanying Assam’s health minister Keshab Mahanta who had visited the Rajbari area of the district on Wednesday to take a first-hand look at the damage caused by floods. But unlike Misra, Mahanta was seen wading through knee-deep water to reach the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) boat. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was upset at Misra.

“Legislators shouldn’t be riding on people’s back. On the other hand, MLAs should be ready, when required, to ferry people on their backs,” the chief minister said.

Misra said, “I was unwell and was running high fever. But since the minister was here and there was instruction to review the flood situation, I went out. I was worried my fever would get worse, if I got wet. That’s why I took help from someone. This shouldn’t be taken negatively.”