Two women are trying their electoral luck this time in two different constituencies in the state of West Bengal. A so far unknown 54-year-old Ratna Debnath is contesting from the Assembly segment of Panihati, while the indomitable three-time Chief Minister and former Union minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting from Bhabanipur.
The comparison may sound odd and unusual. Rather, there can be no comparison given the status and stature of the two women. Ratna is no match for the mighty Mamata. Mamata is fighting for her political survival against the massive onslaught of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Undoubtedly, she is feeling challenged and cornered, hence her anger and fury that are revealed and reflected in her and her colleagues’ daily conduct.
Ratna was just like any other homemaker anywhere in India till August 2024. But circumstances pushed her to take the political plunge. Ratna is actually a symbol of resistance against everything that has gone wrong under Mamata and which has led to a serious threat to her political existence.
Ratna Debnath is the mother of the medical student who was brutally raped and murdered in the conference hall of RG Kar Medical College, Kolkata, in August 2024. The way the Mamata government handled the matter raised multiple questions amid allegations that the actual guilty were being protected.
The rape victim’s family, like many others, is still not convinced that justice has been done in the matter. One person was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in this case.
The West Bengal government and the ruling Trinamool Congress did not show any sensitivity or sympathy in the matter. Extreme insensitivity was exhibited on April 29 during the second phase of polling when Ratna was moving around the constituency to observe the conduct of polling. She was interrupted and blocked. Her car was stopped by Trinamool Congress workers, who raised slogans asking her to “go back” and shouting “Jai Bangla”. The TMC did not officially distance itself from the incident.
That is the level of callous insensitivity that has seeped into Bengal’s political system, where a rape and murder victim’s mother was booed and jeered at simply because she was contesting elections on another party’s ticket. Till now, the TMC had a field day everywhere. There was no resistance and no stopping the TMC, which was not just following in the footsteps of its predecessor government of the CPM but outdoing it in intimidation and violence against political opponents.
But then there was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which also has roots in Bengal. The founder president of the party, then Bharatiya Jana Sangh, was Syama Prasad Mukherjee. The BJP knows the tricks of the “political trade” as much as the TMC and probably better. The TMC found its match in the BJP, and a stronger one at that.
Added to that was the “no-nonsense” approach of the Election Commission of India, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Kumar, despite a vicious campaign run against him by the opposition, particularly the Congress, remained firm and steadfast in ensuring free and fair elections. The massive deployment of Central security forces created a free and fair atmosphere. There was no scope for threat or intimidation, something that still irritates TMC leaders. Not a single death was reported during the elections this time, against 60 deaths in the 2021 Assembly elections.
It would have been unimaginable under the circumstances created by the TMC in West Bengal for someone like Ratna Debnath to challenge the might of the ruling party. The TMC has continuously won Panihati in the last three elections. Realising the intensity of public anger, the party replaced sitting MLA Nirmal Ghosh with his son Tirthankar Ghosh. The Congress and the CPM have also fielded their candidates from Panihati.
Ratna joining the contest has made Panihati important. Panihati was one of the Assembly segments where Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally visited and addressed an election rally. That reflects the importance the BJP has accorded to this constituency.
Going by the frustration betrayed by TMC leaders like Derek O’Brien and Kalyan Banerjee, who recently described Union Home Minister Amit Shah as a “goonda” and “jalaad”, it is not difficult to make out which way the wind is blowing in Bengal.
Interestingly, all these leaders in the TMC have raised objections to the large deployment of Central security forces in West Bengal and questioned why TMC cadres were not allowed to have their say and why the elections went off so peacefully.
On May 4, all eyes will be on Bhabanipur, where Mamata is facing perhaps the biggest challenge of her political career. She had lost from Nandigram in 2021 and later contested the byelection from Bhabanipur after getting the seat vacated.
At the same time, Panihati will be watched with equal curiosity and keen interest. Whether the anger and frustration triggered by the August 2024 rape and murder at RG Kar Medical College will be reflected in the results remains to be seen. That is why Panihati is as important as Bhabanipur. Panihati may not decide the political fate of anyone, particularly Ratna Debnath, who hardly has political stakes, but it will certainly reveal whether Bengal is headed towards redemption or not.
Also read: TMC moves SC over EC counting staff rule; hearing tomorrow
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