With the countrywide chorus rising for his arrest and expulsion from parliament, Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Paul on Tuesday tendered an unconditional apology for his "deeply insensitive" rape comments even as another video surfaced showing him exhorting his partymen to kill CPI-M workers.

 

With politicians, eminent personalities and activists baying for his head and the National Commission for Women (NCW) seeking his expulsion from parliament, the Lok Sabha member, in a letter addressed to his party and the media, sought apology terming his comments a "gross error of judgment" and "deeply insensitive".

 

"Some remarks made by me have caused dismay and consternation. I apologise unreservedly for them. Whatever the provocation, those comments should never have been made," the letter said, that by the comments, he had let down "my constituents and the people of Bengal", his party, and "his family, including my wife and children and my parents, and my friends".

 

"I apologise to all of them, and particularly to all women in our society and to those in the media who highlighted the issue," said Paul. Earlier in the day, Paul's wife Nandini too apologised on her husband's behalf, although she asserted that he was "provoked" to make the remarks.

 

"If a CPI-M man dares to touch anybody, I will take out my gun and shoot him. I always carry a gun… I will destroy his entire clan. I warn my opponents… I will make their family pay dearly. I will ask my boys to go there. They will rape them and leave," Paul was seen saying in the video that has now gone viral.

 

Even as Paul's remarks continued to trigger outrage and disgust, another party leader – Bankura district head Arup Chakraborty – was caught on tape asking partymen to "sacrifice whoever intrudes your home".

 

"If any outsider enters your house, cut him down, sacrifice him. I will take care of that, you don't have to worry," Chakraborty is seen in the video clip telecast by a Bengali news channel.

 

He later justified his comments, saying he was talking about the right of self-defence.

Adding to the controversy, a new video has come up which shows Paul abusing Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activists and asking his party workers to slit their rivals' throats.

 

"Men who kill others are not humans. Till I am here, I will request don't spare any CPI-M worker. Our men will kill them. I am also asking the women to slit open CPI-M worker's throats," says Paul in the video telecast by a news channel.

 

The row had its reverberations in the West Bengal assembly too, where noisy scenes were witnessed when Congress members staged a walkout after the speaker disallowed an adjournment motion on the issue. Leader of Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra said his CPI-M will file a police complaint at the place in Nadia district where Paul made the rape remarks.

 

Expressing dismay over Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's "silence" in the matter, state Bharatiya Janata Party president Rahul Sinha said a CD of Paul's speech will be sent to the Lok Sabha speaker seeking action against him.