New Delhi: Pralay Pal, a BJP leader from Nandigram, has stirred the hornet’s nest in West Bengal by allegedly suggesting women must undergo medical tests to prove their “chastity”. And the opposing Trinamool Congress (TMC) is sparing no stone unturned to hyperbolise the comment and milk it for all it’s worth ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.
Pralay Pal, a senior BJP leader from Nandigram, has called for women whose husbands work in other states to be subjected to GYNAECOLOGICAL TESTS TO PROVE THEIR CHASTITY. Because in BJP’s world, a woman who attends Unnayoner Panchali recitals or visits Jagannath Dham automatically… pic.twitter.com/u7x7B5Up5A
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 11, 2026
Highlighting the issue in a post on its official X account, the TMC accused the senior BJP leader of demanding that women should undergo “gynaecological tests” to prove their chastity. Coming down heavily on Pal and the BJP, the TMC said that it reflected a “deeply patriarchal” and “anti-women mindset”.
What Pralay Pal said
According to the video in TMC’s post, Pal allegedly suggested that women whose husbands work outside the state should be subjected to medical examinations to prove their fidelity.
Pralay Pal, a senior BJP leader from Nandigram, has called for women whose husbands work in other states to be subjected to GYNAECOLOGICAL TESTS TO PROVE THEIR CHASTITY. Because in BJP’s world, a woman who attends Unnayoner Panchali recitals or visits Jagannath Dham automatically… pic.twitter.com/u7x7B5Up5A
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 11, 2026
TMC’s post claims that “Pralay Pal, a senior BJP leader from Nandigram, has called for women whose husbands work in other states to be subjected to GYNAECOLOGICAL TESTS TO PROVE THEIR CHASTITY. Because in BJP’s world, a woman who attends Unnayoner Panchali recitals or visits Jagannath Dham automatically becomes suspect.”
Calling the thinking “regressive” and “misogynistic”, TMC claimed that women could become objects of suspicion simply for attending social gatherings and programmes or visiting religious sites.
‘Women constantly judged’
In its post, the Trinamool Congress alleged that the comment reflected a broader attitude in which women’s character is frequently questioned. The party said such views treat women’s bodies as something to be judged, examined and publicly scrutinised. “…in BJP’s world, a woman’s character is always under question, and her body is always available for examination, judgement, and public humiliation,” the post said.
The TMC compared the idea to an “agni pariksha”, or trial by fire, used historically as a test of purity.
BJP’s ‘Deeply regressive, medieval mindset’: TMC
TMC also criticised what it called the contradiction between slogans about women’s safety and the alleged remarks made by the BJP leader.
In its statement, the Trinamool Congress said the idea of testing women’s purity reflected a “deeply regressive and misogynistic mindset”. Calling the notion “medieval barbarism”, the party said women are not property whose purity must be examined.
The TMC further called out the apparent hypocrisy of the saffron party and wrote, “What [BJP] wants is for women to undergo “AGNI PARIKSHA” to prove their purity. It lays bare the misogynistic, chauvinistic, deeply regressive, NARI-BIRODHI mindset that runs through the veins of BJP’s rank and file. They preach “Beti Bachao, Mahila Suraksha” in one breath, and in the next reduce women to objects whose bodies must be policed, tested, and judged to satisfy their patriarchal paranoia.”
Political storm brews ahead of Assembly elections
The Trinamool Congress further warned that women voters would remember such remarks during the upcoming Assembly elections. TMC said that women across the state would respond politically if they were humiliated. “Our women are not chattels to be inspected for “purity.” They are the backbone of our state, and in 2026, they will be the architects of BJP’s downfall. The very women you seek to shame and subjugate will rise to deliver the justice you so richly deserve,” TMC wrote.