A top lieutenant of Mamata Banerjee, like her father-in-law, West Bengal minister Shashi Panja has established herself as one of the most well-known faces of the Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) brigade of women leaders. Panja is a three-term MLA from Shyampukur in north Kolkata, where her father-in-law and former Union MoS Ajit Panja was once a key political player.
A TMC stronghold for over a decade, Panja is expecting a smooth run like always, while the BJP is hoping to dent her electoral prospects over local civic problems and on the narrative of women’s safety and security. Panja holds the Women and Child Development portfolio and has increasingly faced opponents’ attacks since the Sandeshkhali violence and the R G Kar rape and murder case.
However, Panja is confident about succeeding in her re-election efforts. “This constituency is my home, and they are all my family,” she tells a group of people gathered around her. She is up against Poornima Chakraborty of the BJP and Jhuma Das of the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB). The Congress has yet to announce its candidate for the seat, which will vote in the second phase on April 29.
Minister Sashi Panja starts her campaign on Saturday after offering puja at a temple at her shyampukur constituency area . (Express photo by Partha Paul)
Though the elections are almost a month away, Panja is already in the middle of a hectic campaign schedule. She begins her campaign each day at 8.30 am with her daughter Pooja, a group of supporters, and a TMC flag in hand. She proceeds on foot to every doorstep in the narrow lanes and makes it a point to interact with residents in the high-rises of the constituency as well.
Her popularity is evident as residents offer her tea and sweets, while others stop to click selfies. “My parents live close by. I have had no problem. We also get the benefits of the Bengal government’s schemes. Madam (Panja) is always there to help us in times of need,” says Mou Maiti, a local.
The SIR issue
As her interactions move from one topic to another, the hotly debated Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the ongoing adjudication of voters come up. Calling the process “total mayhem which is trying to weed out legal citizens”, Panja tells The Indian Express, “One can see that voters who have been voting for many years are complaining about their names being deleted despite harassment. The SIR will affect people’s voting choices.”
Claiming that 2,081 names in the seat were deleted after the adjudication process, the TMC leader says large-scale deletions have occurred at every stage. “The common sentiment is that the SIR is very concerning and unnerving,” she says, as she enquires about people’s hearing dates while assuring them that her party will stand by them.
She goes on to target the BJP, telling people that it has been “harassing” them in the name of SIR. “My name was in the logical discrepancy list. Though I had my additional documents, I was called for the adjudication process. This was a serious concern for my voters, who were worried that my name was on the adjudication list despite the TMC naming me as a candidate,” Panja says.
Minister Sashi Panja a candidate from Shyampukur asssembly constituency during her campaign on Saturday. (Express photo by Partha Paul)
She also refers to the large-scale transfer of officials by the Election Commission (EC), calling it a “desperate attempt to overhaul the system in defiance of an elected government”.
Panja began her political career in 2010 as a councillor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, two years after her father-in-law passed away. She was first elected as an MLA in 2011 and has retained the seat since. In 2013, she was inducted into the Cabinet as Minister of State and was elevated to Cabinet Minister in 2021.
Highlighting schemes
As Panja continues her campaign, she credits CM Mamata Banerjee for “empowering women politically, socially and economically” through her schemes. “The BJP has chosen to attack that vote bank (through the SIR), and hence there are deletions from voter lists. They will forget women once the elections are over, as they have in Bihar and Delhi. They say they want to start an Annapurna Bhandar scheme here, but why don’t they start it in BJP-ruled states first to set an example?” she says.
Chakraborty, her BJP rival, alleges the constituency had not developed during Panja’s tenure. “People are telling me that they want change. The roads are in a poor state and women are not safe. This is the situation in the constituency of the Woman and Child Development minister. If she cannot develop her own constituency, what will she do for the state? I stand against the TMC as the voice of the people of Shyampukur,” she tells The Indian Express.
Panja dismisses the allegations and accuses the BJP of “humiliating Bengal”. “The BJP says Bangla is the language of Bangladeshis and then asks for votes from Bengali people. Migrant workers were assaulted because they were speaking Bangla. The BJP is contradicting itself. Their strategy is synthetic and shallow. They are now caught in their own trap,” she says.
