Krishnanagar: CAA, Royal Families and a Prestige Issue for TMC in Mahua Moitra

Krishnanagar (Bengal): Krishnanagar, from where Mahua Moitra is seeking her return to the Lok Sabha is one of the high profile seats going to the polls today, May 13. For the Trinamool Congress, it is a prestige fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s overdrive in ousting her from parliament last December.

Moitra’s candidacy was among the first announced by Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, long before the official party list was released.

But it does not promise to be smooth sailing.

“She was a symbol of pride for us. However, her focus is on issues like Hiranandani or Adani. In all these years in the parliament, she never raised critical local issues like the closing of the Palashi Sugar Mill or the rejuvenation of the Jalangi and Anjana River or jute farmers’ distress. Nor did she fight for the land holding rights of refugees,” says Mukunda Saha, an old-time businessman from Krishnanagar town. 

Both Mamata Banerjee, the TMC chief, and her second-in-command, Abhishek Banerjee, have addressed multiple rallies in support of Moitra. Mamata even skipped the INDIA bloc protest rally against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest to campaign for her.

However, allegations of corruption in the TMC and internal party conflicts seem to have left many locals disillusioned.

Sumita Dutta, a local school teacher, explains, “I’ve been a loyal TMC supporter for years, but not this time around. I’ve made numerous attempts to discuss various school-related issues with the MP. However, whenever she visited our area, her demeanour was standoffish.”

In contrast to this, on the campaign trail, Moitra is visibly leading the optics game. Her focus centres around Lakshmir Bhandar – a direct cash transfer initiative for women launched by the Banerjee administration.

Women constitute a pivotal voting bloc, and Banerjee’s schemes, particularly those tailored for women, such as the Lakshmir Bhandar, Kanyashree, and Rupashree, have gained significant traction in rural Bengal.

Moitra’s campaign operates with the help of a handpicked group of professionals managing it from a war-room like set up.  

On the ground though, the question looms as to whether Moitra’s popularity in national politics will turn to votes in her favour.

This time around, the TMC is on the backfoot due to the involvement of its local leaders in the primary teacher recruitment scam. While Palashipara MLA Manik Bhattacharya, along with his wife and son, has been arrested for their alleged role in the scam, the Tehatta MLA, Tapas Kumar Saha, has been summoned by the CBI. Moitra refused to respond to questions on this, citing her busy campaign schedule.  Both assembly segments are part of her Lok Sabha constituency.

Named after Raja Krishna Chandra Rai, Krishnanagar comprises seven assembly seats in Nadia district – Palashipara, Nakshipara , Kaliganj, Chapra, Tehatta, Krishnanagar Uttar and Krishnanagar Dakshin. The area was a stronghold of the Left for 28 years, starting from 1971, before the BJP dealt the first notable blow to the CPI(M)’s dominance by clinching the seat in 1999. The CPI(M) or Communist Party of India (Marxist) managed to reclaim control in 2004, but subsequently, the TMC’s celebrity candidate, actor Tapas Paul, secured victory twice in consecutive elections. In 2019, Mahua Moitra won with a margin of 63,128 votes, defeating her BJP opponent Kalyan Choubey. 

In the 2021 assembly election, the ruling party won six of the seven seats while former TMC leader Mukul Roy won as a BJP candidate from Krishnanagar Uttar. Once hailed as the ‘Chanakya of Bengal’, he reunited with TMC following his victory, but in a surprising turn in 2023, asserted that he remained loyal to the BJP, a claim disputed by the saffron party.

This time, the BJP has nominated Amrita Roy, a descendant of the former royal family of Krishnanagar. According to her election affidavit, Roy, who refers to herself as the Rajmata or Queen Mother, a title uncommon in Bengal politics, is arguably the wealthiest candidate in the state, possessing inherited properties valued at Rs 554 crore. During her phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she defended her husband’s ancestor, whom history accuses of betraying the last independent Nawab of Bengal by aligning with Mir Jafar to secure the East India Company’s triumph in the ‘Battle of Plassey’.

“Had Siraj ud Daulah not been dislodged then, it would have been difficult to save Sanatan Dharma,” claims Roy in her campaign speeches. 

The BJP is leaving no stone unturned to win Krishnanagar. Not only did the Prime Minister call the BJP candidate soon after her name was announced, he, alongside star campaigners Amit Shah and Adityanath have held numerous public rallies and roadshows. Despite the fervent campaigning, the political calculus suggests that victory for the BJP here remains an uphill battle. The party, banking on the strong RSS organisation in the area, is hoping the Citizenship (Amendment) Act issue will help secure the majority of the 20% Matua vote, but the strategy does not seem to be working properly.

Dinnath Biswas, a vegetable trader from  the Tehatta area, says, “They campaigned that we would be getting Aadhaar-like photo identity cards. But now they are asking for documents. Where will I get so many documents from? None of us have registered our names on the CAA portal.” 

The BJP’s strength in Nakashipara and Kaliganj stems from old RSS factions that have been gaining momentum in the past few years. The newly constructed Vishwa Hindu Parishad office enhances the BJP’s power claims in the area. However, as the party’s focus shifts towards Rajbari – the royal family – internal challenges arise from old-timers feeling marginalised. 

“For long we fought to build the party and now it has become Rajbari’s party! It is a disgrace to the workers. Rajbari has no social contribution,” says a local BJP leader. 

The third face in the race is the CPI(M)’s S.M. Sadi. A former MLA, Sadi is known for his work with migrant workers during the lockdown. In areas like Kaliganj, Chapra, Nakashipara, Palashipara, and Tehatta, where migrant workers form a significant portion of the population, Sadi led the Centre of Indian Trade Unions’ efforts in repatriating them. This earned him popular support.

“The manufactured binary has been broken by our continuous political agitation and people’s experience. In the panchayat polls, 29% of the votes were won by the Left despite violence. We have been able to rebuild the booth-level organisation. The most eye-catching thing in the campaign of the left is the participation of the youth from the marginalised families, which is unprecedented in the recent times,” claims CPI(M) district secretary Sumit Dey.

In the 2019 general election, the BJP secured 40.5% of the vote, which decreased to 37.8% in the 2021 assembly election. Meanwhile, the combined vote share of the Left and Congress stood at approximately 10%. In the 2023 panchayat election, although the TMC maintained its share, the Left’s vote surged to 29%, pushing the BJP to third place. With the Left and Congress forming a seat adjustment pact, Krishnanagar now witnesses a three-way electoral contest.

Translated from the Bengali original by Aparna Bhattacharya.