West Bengal BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu. (Express photo by Subham Dutta/File) West Bengal BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu. (Express photo by Subham Dutta/File)

A day after BJP MP Soumitra Khan called the intellectuals —protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act — “dogs of CM Mamata Banerjee”, his party’s state general secretary Sayantan Basu on Monday went a step ahead.

He said those who have problem with Khan’s “dog” metaphor can call intellectuals “monkeys”.

He also alleged that the protesters received Rs 500 each from the from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).

“If you have a problem with them (intellectuals) being called dogs, then you can call them monkeys. Consider them monkeys. This law (CAA) is for common people. We will visit places where there are common people (during pro-CAA rallies). There is no point visiting places filled with dogs and monkeys,” said Basu at Kharagpur in West Midnapore district.

He alleged that people, who protested against the CAA received Rs 500 from the TMC. “Now they have stopped their protest as they did not receive the money in time,” alleged Basu, while speaking to reporters.

On Sunday, BJP MP Soumitra Khan called the intellectuals and eminent personalities of Kolkata, who have been taking taking to the streets against the new law and proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), Banerjee’s dogs.

Condemning Basu’s comments, senior TMC leader and state minister Tapas Roy said it’s not surprising. “Their (BJP) state party president (Dilip Ghosh) is the one who is making the most derogatory comments. So there is no surprise that others in their party will do the same. We cannot expect anything better from these BJP leaders who are out to destroy Bengali culture,” he said.

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