For 32 years, she was a wife and mother like any other, busy navigating her life, proud of her daughter who was on her way to becoming a doctor from the prestigious R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. But life has not been the same for the BJP’s Panihati candidate since August 9, 2024, after her daughter’s rape and murder. What followed was a blur of profound grief, shock, and a political storm over the way the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government handled the situation that brought common people out on the streets across the state.
A year and seven months since that, the R G Kar victim’s mother has chosen to throw herself into the rough and tumble of Bengal politics and contest the elections from the constituency in North 24 Parganas district “to protect all the daughters of Bengal and to fight for justice for her own”.
“Everything changed after that phone call (on August 9, 2024). Since then, my life has been completely different, and I have been running from one court to another. Now, I am urging people to deliver justice by uprooting this government. Will our daughters be safe under this government? Never,” she tells The Indian Express on the campaign trail with her husband by her side. Panihati will vote in the second phase of Bengal polls on April 29.
Admitting that “politics was never on her mind,” she says, “I have nothing more to lose, but I do not want any mother to go through what I have. There are nights when I can hear my daughter screaming for help.”
For the BJP, the choice to make her the candidate was straightforward, given that one of its key poll planks is the alleged deterioration of safety and security for women under the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government. From the violence in Sandeskhali in 2024 to the R G Kar case later that year, the TMC government faced intense scrutiny over the years on women’s security in a state that has a powerful woman CM, Mamata Banerjee, at the helm. With women being one of the pillars of the TMC’s rise to power, the BJP is looking to dent that support base through the issue of women’s safety. In the Hingalganj Assembly seat in the Basirhat subdivision of North 24 Parganas, the BJP has fielded Rekha Patra, the face of the Sandeshkhali protests.
While the party has yet to release its manifesto, it raised the issue in a “chargesheet” released against the TMC government last weekend. “The CM is a woman, but the condition of women in the state is the poorest. There is a complete failure of the law and order situation. Under her rule, there has been a loss of the Bengali asmita (pride),” said Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
On the campaign trail
While campaigning, the R G Kar victim’s mother seems to strike a chord with people who come out of their homes in the narrow lanes of Panihati to greet her. As she seeks their blessings, a woman steps forward to hug her. “Your vote is for my daughter and for justice. Each vote for them (TMC) means my daughter’s killers will slip away,” she tells people.
“We want justice for the mother,” says local resident Nirupama Basak, holding back tears. “Her daughter did so much when she was alive. She would attend to emergencies even in the middle of the night and financially help those who could not afford medicines.”
Among those gathered around the victim’s mother is Suraj, who works at a local medical store. “When didi was alive, she would see many patients at the shop’s chamber,” he says.
The BJP candidate will face off against the TMC’s Tirthankar Ghosh, the son of outgoing Assembly Chief Whip Nirmal Ghosh, and the CPI(M)’s Kalatan Dasgupta. The constituency is seen as a stronghold of Nirmal Ghosh who has won five of the six elections here since 1996, losing only in 2006 to the CPI(M)’s Gopal Krishna Bhattacharya.
Local concerns
While women’s safety is a key issue across the state, for voters in the area, local civic problems are also of pressing concern, from waste disposal and open drains with stagnant water, to poor roads.
“There are many issues here. There has been no development in the area. Only the MLA and councillors have seen personal development,” alleges local Hira Lal, a resident of Panihati for 25 years.
Both the TMC and the CPI(M) candidate are conducting their campaign around the local issues, steering away from their BJP rival. Dasgupta, the CPI(M) candidate, says, “People refer to the area as a garbage dump. There is no drinking water, and even slight rainfall leads to waterlogging. The local school has a high dropout rate. People are demanding change. We are there when people need us, unlike the BJP, which garlands rapists, and the invisible TMC.”
Tirthankar Ghosh, who has been campaigning extensively, dismisses the allegations. “The TMC has fielded me because people want development to continue. Around Rs 120 crore has been spent on roads. All new roads in municipal areas have been constructed using concrete or paver blocks. People are receiving all facilities here,” he says, adding that he has “a lot of sympathy for the mother”.