Few will doubt the genuineness of President Droupadi Murmu’s dismay and horror, expressed in an article she wrote for a news agency, over the rape and murder of a woman doctor in a Kolkata hospital. She said what was most depressing was that the Kolkata incident was “part of a series of crimes against women.” The concluding sentence of her article was: “Let us collectively say enough is enough.”

Since the rape-murder in Kolkata was part of a series and, therefore, not unique, why did Murmu choose to highlight it? It was impolitic of her to do so as the gruesome crime occurred under the watch of the Trinamool Congress government, which has been perennially locked in conflict with the Bharatiya Janata Party ruling at the Centre. It was impolitic because she had been a member of the BJP before she was elected president.