Kolkata: West Bengal continued to be rocked by protests over Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Paul`s hate speech, as students and youth wings of opposition parties took to the streets Thursday.
Members of Students Federation of India - the Communist Party of India-Marxist students` wing - took out a rally carrying posters and banners and blockaded the busy Moulali crossing in central Kolkata for some time.
They were demanding the arrest of Paul, whose rape remarks in a video footage have led to outrage across India.
"We condemn the tasteless and provocative remarks made by Tapas Paul," said a banner carried by SFI`s Kolkata district women members.
Members of the human rights cell of the Congress party also staged a demonstration at the same spot while the Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha workers staged a protest in Murshidabad district`s Baharampur town.
Elected to parliament from Krishnanagar in Nadia district, Paul was caught on video tape threatening and warning CPI-M cadres to beware of him and that he would gun them down and unleash his men to rape their women.
Repeatedly using expletives to describe CPI-M activists, Paul even asked his party workers to prove themselves by slitting rivals` throats and killing them.
Drawing flak from all quarters, Paul later issued an apology terming his comments a "gross error of judgment" and "deeply insensitive".
The Trinamool Congress said the matter has ended with Paul`s unconditional apology but opposition parties in the state are seeking administrative action, including the arrest of Paul, a leading actor of Bengali films.
There have also been calls for his expulsion from Parliament.